NORTH KOREA VS SOUTH KOREA: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	SOUTH KOREA		NORTH KOREA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Coronary Heart Disease	1	14,160	2	31,342	- 17,182
Influenza and Pneumonia	2	13,457	6	6,231	+ 7,226
Stroke	3	12,925	1	49,648	- 36,723
Lung Cancers	4	10,247	5	11,893	- 1,646
Suicide	5	7,390	16	2,407	+ 4,983
Alzheimers & Dementia	6	6,133	11	4,340	+ 1,793
Liver Cancer	7	5,852	9	5,326	+ 526
Colon-Rectum Cancers	8	5,141	15	3,232	+ 1,909
Kidney Disease	9	5,104	12	3,959	+ 1,145
Stomach Cancer	10	4,355	13	3,771	+ 584
Lung Disease	11	4,305	3	26,178	- 21,872
Pancreas Cancer	12	3,531	21	1,525	+ 2,006
Diabetes Mellitus	13	3,440	14	3,671	- 231
Liver Disease	14	3,206	10	4,506	- 1,301
Road Traffic Accidents	15	2,221	7	6,210	- 3,989
Parkinson's Disease	16	1,995	26	1,155	+ 840
Hypertension	17	1,874	8	5,368	- 3,494
Other Injuries	18	1,835	20	1,531	+ 304
Lymphomas	19	1,756	35	560	+ 1,196
Falls	20	1,482	18	1,801	- 320
Breast Cancer	21	1,454	23	1,366	+ 88
Prostate Cancer	22	1,169	48	219	+ 950
Leukemia	23	1,081	30	965	+ 116
Tuberculosis	24	985	4	17,417	- 16,432
Endocrine Disorders	25	955	39	452	+ 503
Other Neoplasms	26	912	59	44	+ 869
Bladder Cancer	27	893	38	500	+ 393
Oesophagus Cancer	28	875	24	1,222	- 347
Oral Cancer	29	736	37	513	+ 223
Ovary Cancer	30	672	36	532	+ 140
Inflammatory/Heart	31	669	34	684	- 15
Asthma	32	581	22	1,439	- 858
Alcohol	33	546	44	304	+ 241
Cervical Cancer	34	538	33	704	- 166
Diarrhoeal diseases	35	469	40	374	+ 94
Skin Disease	36	356	52	158	+ 197
Skin Cancers	37	295	51	168	+ 127
Peptic Ulcer Disease	38	272	19	1,712	- 1,440
Hepatitis B	39	266	55	68	+ 197
Epilepsy	40	265	45	266	- 1
Congenital Anomalies	41	262	29	991	- 729
Drownings	42	253	27	1,126	- 873
Uterin Cancer	43	212	53	138	+ 74
Violence	44	195	28	1,082	- 887
Low Birth Weight	45	187	25	1,208	- 1,021
Anemia	46	166	85	0	+ 166
Fires	47	133	46	253	- 120
Rheumatic Heart Disease	48	113	17	2,093	- 1,979
Hepatitis C	49	85	64	10	+ 74
Drug Use	50	78	42	356	- 279
Rheumatoid Arthritis	51	76	50	198	- 123
Poisonings	52	58	41	366	- 308
Malnutrition	53	45	43	317	- 273
Birth Trauma	54	45	32	736	- 691
HIV/AIDS	55	43	31	753	- 711
Schizophrenia	56	39	83	0	+ 39
Appendicitis	57	27	57	57	- 29
Meningitis	58	26	49	207	- 181
Prostatic Hypertrophy	59	25	80	0	+ 25
Osteoarthritis	60	21	81	0	+ 21
Maternal Conditions	61	17	47	252	- 234
Syphilis	62	13	58	54	- 41
Upper Respiratory	63	13	56	67	- 54
Oral conditions	64	11	82	0	+ 11
Encephalitis	65	10	54	117	- 107
Multiple Sclerosis	66	5	60	40	- 34
Pertussis	67	3	61	34	- 31
War	68	2	63	16	- 14
Tetanus	69	2	62	28	- 25
Otitis Media	70	2	70	0	+ 2
Malaria	71	1	69	0	+ 0
Schistosomiasis	72	1	74	0	+ 1
Diphtheria	73	0	68	0	- 0
Ascariasis	74	0	67	1	- 1
Trichuriasis	75	0	77	0	- 0
Hookworm Disease	76	0	78	0	- 0
Dengue	77	0	76	0	- 0
Trypanosomiasis	78	0	73	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	79	0	75	0	- 0
Chagas disease	80	0	72	0	- 0
Iodine Deficiency	81	0	79	0	- 0
Leprosy	82	0	71	0	- 0
Measles	83	0	65	4	- 4
Chlamydia	84	0	66	1	- 1
Vitamin A Deficiency	85	0	86	0	- 0
Depression	86	0	84	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to NORTH KOREA

South Korea

North Korea

THE INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE

The point of this intellectual exercise is to measure what would happen if two countries shared the same leading causes of death. To make these comparisons possible we equalized the population and used total deaths for each country's top 10 causes to simulate an "Exchange." Use the chart on the left to sort by the country name and use the summary plus and minus column to measure the differences in total deaths.

Life Expectancy statistics are calculated the same way everywhere in the world, but what we die from can be very different depending upon where we live. Despite these differences, with rare exception, the top 10 causes of death for any given country will represent between 70-80% of their total deaths. This is an intellectual exercise only, not a comparison of which country is healthier or to challenge existing life expectancy rankings. If you prefer to see total deaths for over 80 causes and choose your own countries to compare go here: https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-rankings-total-deaths

ABOUT OUR DATA

All meaningful comparisons between countries should be made using the same data source and year. The most reliable source for International comparisons is the World Health Organization because it is standardized for cross cultural comparisons. It is also reviewed annually, which often makes it more current than individual country data that can take years to compile. The WHO data includes individual country "projections," that are calculated based upon an annual consultation with each country before it is published. There are differences however, such as WHO data separates different forms of heart disease and cancer and combines Alzheimer's with Dementia. In this top 10 comparison WHO data for both countries was used.