Heart Disease Deaths

Over the past decade, males were nearly twice as likely as females to die of heart disease.

NOTE: APC is annual percent change.
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality. See Sources and Definitions, National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and Health, United States, 2020–2021 Table SlctMort.

• From 2009 to 2019, the age-adjusted heart disease death rate was higher for males than for females.
• Among males, the age-adjusted heart disease death rate decreased from 229.4 per 100,000 in 2009 to 214.7 in 2012, and then decreased at a slower rate to 204.8 in 2019.
• Among females, the age-adjusted heart disease death rate decreased from 146.6 in 2009 to 135.5 in 2012, and then decreased at a slower rate to 126.2 in 2019.

Although heart disease death rates generally decreased for all race and Hispanic-origin groups, death rates continued to remain highest for non-Hispanic Black people.

NOTES: NH is non-Hispanic origin. NHOPI is Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. AIAN is American Indian or Alaska Native. API is Asian or Pacific Islander. APC is annual percent change. “Stable” refers to no statistically significant trend during the period.
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality. See Sources and Definitions, National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and Health, United States, 2020–2021 Table SlctMort.

• From 2009 to 2019, the age-adjusted heart disease death rate decreased for non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic people.
• From 2009 to 2012, the age-adjusted heart disease death rate for non-Hispanic Black people decreased, and then was stable through 2019. The age-adjusted heart disease death rate was highest for non-Hispanic Black people during the period.
• From 2009 to 2014, the age-adjusted heart disease death rate for non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander people decreased, and then was stable through 2017. The age-adjusted heart disease death rate for non-Hispanic Asian people was lower in 2019 than 2018, while the death rate for non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander people did not change.
• In 2019, age-adjusted heart disease deaths per 100,000 population were 208.6 among non-Hispanic Black, 168.5 among non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 166.4 among non-Hispanic White, 141.6 among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, 111.3 among Hispanic, and 79.2 among non-Hispanic Asian people.

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• Heart disease deaths: Identified using International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD–10) underlying cause-of-death codes I00–I09, I11, I13, and I20–I51. See Sources and Definitions, Cause of death; International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
• Hispanic origin: People of Hispanic origin may be of any race. See Sources and Definitions, Hispanic origin.
• Leading causes of death: Ranked according to the number of deaths. See Sources and Definitions, Cause of death; Cause-of-death ranking.
• Race: Starting with 2018 data, estimates are presented according to the 1997 Office of Management and Budget’s “Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity,” which includes separating the Asian or Pacific Islander classification into two groups: Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Single-race estimates for 2018 and beyond are not completely comparable with bridged-race estimates for earlier years, particularly for smaller race categories. See Sources and Definitions, Race.

1. Heron M, Anderson RN. Changes in the leading cause of death: Recent patterns in heart disease and cancer mortality. NCHS Data Brief, no 254. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2016.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About heart disease. Atlanta, Georgia. 2021. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/about.htm.