Leading Causes of Death – Females – by Race and Hispanic origin – United States, 2016

By Race and Hispanic origin¹, Female, All ages

Leading Causes of Death, 2016, by Race and Hispanic origin, Female, by Age Group
	Race and Hispanic origin³
Rank²	Non-Hispanic white	Non-Hispanic black	Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander	Hispanic	All races and origins
1	Heart disease 22.1%	Heart disease 23.1%	Cancer 18.1%	Cancer 26.2%	Cancer 22.1%	Heart disease 22.0%
2	Cancer 20.8%	Cancer 21.8%	Heart disease 16.6%	Heart disease 20.0%	Heart disease 19.9%	Cancer 21.1%
3	Chronic lower respiratory diseases 6.8%	Stroke 6.4%	Unintentional injuries 8.4%	Stroke 8.8%	Stroke 6.5%	Stroke 6.2%
4	Alzheimer’s disease 6.4%	Diabetes 4.5%	Diabetes 6.1%	Alzheimer’s disease 5.0%	Alzheimer’s disease 5.5%	Chronic lower respiratory diseases 6.1%
5	Stroke 6.0%	Alzheimer’s disease 3.9%	Chronic liver disease 5.5%	Diabetes 3.8%	Unintentional injuries 5.0%	Alzheimer’s disease 6.0%
6	Unintentional injuries 4.3%	Unintentional injuries 3.6%	Chronic lower respiratory diseases 5.1%	Unintentional injuries 3.5%	Diabetes 4.7%	Unintentional injuries 4.3%
7	Diabetes 2.2%	Chronic lower respiratory diseases 3.4%	Stroke 4.1%	Influenza and pneumonia 3.0%	Chronic lower respiratory diseases 3.0%	Diabetes 2.7%
8	Influenza and pneumonia 2.0%	Kidney disease 3.1%	Alzheimer’s disease 3.1%	Chronic lower respiratory diseases 2.3%	Chronic liver disease 2.3%	Influenza and pneumonia 2.0%
9	Kidney disease 1.6%	Septicemia 2.3%	Influenza and pneumonia 2.2%	Hypertension 2.2%	Kidney disease 2.2%	Kidney disease 1.8%
10	Septicemia 1.5%	Hypertension 2.0%	Kidney disease 2.1%	Kidney disease 2.0%	Influenza and pneumonia 2.1%	Septicemia 1.6%

¹Persons identified as white, black, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Asian or Pacific Islander were of non-Hispanic origin. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. For more information on race and Hispanic origin classification please see the Technical Notes section of “Deaths: Leading Causes for 2016”.
²Based on number of deaths. Tie ranks are listed in order of ICD-10 code.
³Figures for age not stated are included in “all ages” but not distributed among age groups.

Short and Full Terms – 2016

Some terms in the leading causes of death tables have been shortened from those used in the National Vital Statistics Report. Below is a listing of the shortened terms used in the tables and their full, unabridged equivalents used in the report.

Short and Full Terms – Leading Causes of Death 2016
Short Term	Full Term
Benign neoplasms	In situ neoplasms, benign neoplasms and neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behavior
Birth defects	Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities
Cancer	Malignant neoplasms
Chronic liver disease	Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
Diabetes	Diabetes mellitus
Heart disease	Diseases of heart
HIV disease	Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease
Homicide	Assault (homicide)
Hypertension	Essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease
Kidney disease	Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis
Medical complications	Complications of medical and surgical care
Perinatal conditions	Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period
Pregnancy complications	Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium
Stroke	Cerebrovascular diseases
Suicide	Intentional self-harm (suicide)
Unintentional injuries	Accidents (unintentional injuries)