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QuickStats: Number of Deaths from 10 Leading Causes — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2010

The figure shows the number of deaths from 10 leading causes in the United States during 2010, according to the National Vital Statistics System. In 2010, a total of 2,468,435 deaths occurred in the United States. The first two leading causes of death, heart diseases (597,689 deaths) and cancer (574,743), accounted for nearly 50% of all deaths. In contrast, the other leading causes accounted for much smaller percentages, ranging from 5.6% (138,080 deaths) for the third leading cause of death, chronic lower respiratory disease, to suicide which, ranked 10th, with 1.6% (38,364) of all deaths. All other causes combined accounted for 25% of the deaths.

In 2010, a total of 2,468,435 deaths occurred in the United States. The first two leading causes of death, heart disease (597,689 deaths) and cancer (574,743), accounted for nearly 50% of all deaths. In contrast, the other leading causes accounted for much smaller percentages, ranging from 5.6% (138,080 deaths) for the third leading cause of death, chronic lower respiratory disease, to 1.6% (38,364) for suicide, the 10th leading cause of death. All other causes combined accounted for 25% of the deaths.

Source: Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD. Deaths: final data for 2010. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/deaths_2010_release.pdf.

Reported by: Jiaquan Xu, MD, jax4@cdc.gov, 301-458-4086.

Alternate Text: The figure above shows the number of deaths from 10 leading causes in the United States during 2010, according to the National Vital Statistics System. In 2010, a total of 2,468,435 deaths occurred in the United States. The first two leading causes of death, heart diseases (597,689 deaths) and cancer (574,743), accounted for nearly 50% of all deaths. In contrast, the other leading causes accounted for much smaller percentages, ranging from 5.6% (138,080 deaths) for the third leading cause of death, chronic lower respiratory disease, to suicide which, ranked 10th, with 1.6% (38,364) of all deaths. All other causes combined accounted for 25% of the deaths.



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