Heart disease still the leading cause of deaths in PH
Heart diseases, neoplasms and cerebrovascular diseases are still the leading causes of death in the Philippines, according to the updated 2024 provisional data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
From January to December 2024, 134,078 Filipinos died from ischemic heart disease, a condition caused by reduced blood flow to the heart due to narrowed arteries.
This accounted for 19 percent of the 701,861 total deaths recorded nationwide last year.
Neoplasms, or abnormal cell growths that may be cancerous or noncancerous, ranked second with 77,433 deaths. This represented 11 percent of the total.
The third leading cause was cerebrovascular diseases, such as stroke and aneurysm, with 68,736 recorded cases or 9.8 percent.
Death rates
Of the total deaths nationwide, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon recorded the highest number with 105,241 cases or 15 percent.
This was followed by Central Luzon with 86,128 deaths (12.3 percent) and the National Capital Region with 84,050 (12 percent).
By gender, males accounted for 395,806 deaths, while females made up 306,055 in 2024.
The total number of deaths last year was up by 1 percent, or 694,821, from 2023.
The PSA noted that the data had come from files received and processed by the agency’s Civil Registration Service from its Provincial Statistical Offices as of Aug. 31 this year.
