Circulatory diseases – main causes of death for persons aged 65 and more in Europe, 2009

Causes of death among the over-65 age group are of increasing significance in European mortality statistics. A dramatic change in the nature of health care over the past century has resulted in longer life spans, but also greater prevalence of chronic illnesses. This has increased the demands on the health care system, particularly for the treatment of ongoing illnesses and for long-term care. In addition, public health programmes throughout Europe are largely aimed at the reduction of mortality before the age of 65 by preventive measures.

In 2009 more than 3.8 million deaths in the EU-27 occurred after the age of 65, 80.3% of total deaths. The percentage of the population aged 65+ in the EU-27 is projected on average to increase from 16.0% in 2010 to 29.0% in 2060. It is therefore interesting to focus on the major causes of death for that age group. This publication addresses seven major causes of death for persons aged 65+: 2 main disease groups of the circulatory system, ischaemic heart diseases (such as heart attacks) and cerebrovascular diseases (such as strokes); the group of respiratory diseases, and 4 malignant neoplasms: lung cancer, colorectal, breast and prostate cancer. However, for people of 65+ circulatory diseases are still the main causes of death.