Almost 1 in 3 EU deaths linked to circulatory system diseases

Europe-Asia, Health

BRUSSELS, Belgium (NPA) — Diseases of the circulatory system caused 1.6 million deaths in the European Union in 2023, accounting for 32.5 per cent of all deaths, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The diseases include ischaemic heart disease, hypertensive diseases and cerebrovascular diseases.

Eurostat said 108 of the 244 EU regions classified at Level 2 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) recorded standardised death rates at or above the EU rate of 313 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

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The remaining 136 regions recorded rates below the EU average.

At the highest end of the distribution, circulatory system diseases accounted for at least half of all deaths in 25 regions in 2023.

The group included all six regions in Bulgaria, with Yuzhen tsentralen and Yugoiztochen recording the highest shares at 67.3 per cent and 66.4 per cent, respectively.

All eight regions in Romania recorded shares of at least 53 per cent, with Sud-Vest Oltenia recording 63.8 per cent.

The group also included both regions of Lithuania, with Vidurio ir vakarų Lietuvos regionas recording 53.7 per cent; Latvia, which has one region at this level of detail, at 52.2 per cent; six of Hungary’s eight regions; and two of Slovakia’s four regions.

France records lowest shares

At the other end of the distribution, five regions recorded less than 20 per cent of all deaths attributed to circulatory system diseases.

All five were in France, with the lowest share recorded in the outermost region of Martinique at 18.2 per cent.

It was followed by Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur at 19.0 per cent, Guadeloupe at 19.1 per cent, Île-de-France at 19.4 per cent and Franche-Comté at 19.9 per cent.

Excluding the atypical region of Mayotte, where the share was 30.5 per cent, all other French regions recorded shares of no more than 22.4 per cent.

Low shares of no more than 22.4 per cent were also recorded in all five Danish regions, with the lowest in the capital region of Hovedstaden at 20.5 per cent.

Three regions in the Netherlands also recorded shares below 22.5 per cent: Zuid-Holland at 21.1 per cent, Utrecht at 21.7 per cent and Groningen at 22.4 per cent.