NORTH KOREA VS BELGIUM: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	BELGIUM		NORTH KOREA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Coronary Heart Disease	1	33,551	2	31,342	+ 2,209
Alzheimers & Dementia	2	20,674	11	4,340	+ 16,334
Stroke	3	16,264	1	49,648	- 33,383
Lung Cancers	4	14,880	5	11,893	+ 2,986
Lung Disease	5	14,136	3	26,178	- 12,042
Influenza and Pneumonia	6	12,465	6	6,231	+ 6,235
Colon-Rectum Cancers	7	7,309	15	3,232	+ 4,077
Kidney Disease	8	6,481	12	3,959	+ 2,522
Breast Cancer	9	5,680	23	1,366	+ 4,314
Suicide	10	4,635	16	2,407	+ 2,228
Other Injuries	11	4,405	20	1,531	+ 2,874
Other Neoplasms	12	4,013	59	44	+ 3,969
Prostate Cancer	13	4,006	48	219	+ 3,787
Pancreas Cancer	14	3,973	21	1,525	+ 2,447
Falls	15	3,855	18	1,801	+ 2,053
Lymphomas	16	3,408	35	560	+ 2,848
Liver Disease	17	3,146	10	4,506	- 1,361
Endocrine Disorders	18	3,143	39	452	+ 2,692
Parkinson's Disease	19	3,025	26	1,155	+ 1,870
Diabetes Mellitus	20	2,787	14	3,671	- 884
Leukemia	21	2,633	30	965	+ 1,668
Bladder Cancer	22	2,368	38	500	+ 1,868
Inflammatory/Heart	23	2,328	34	684	+ 1,644
Liver Cancer	24	2,142	9	5,326	- 3,183
Oesophagus Cancer	25	1,972	24	1,222	+ 750
Stomach Cancer	26	1,895	13	3,771	- 1,876
Hypertension	27	1,624	8	5,368	- 3,744
Oral Cancer	28	1,481	37	513	+ 969
Road Traffic Accidents	29	1,462	7	6,210	- 4,748
Ovary Cancer	30	1,433	36	532	+ 901
Skin Cancers	31	1,147	51	168	+ 978
Alcohol	32	1,097	44	304	+ 793
Diarrhoeal diseases	33	917	40	374	+ 543
Uterin Cancer	34	843	53	138	+ 705
Skin Disease	35	833	52	158	+ 675
Epilepsy	36	764	45	266	+ 498
Rheumatic Heart Disease	37	643	17	2,093	- 1,450
Malnutrition	38	638	43	317	+ 321
Drug Use	39	631	42	356	+ 275
Congenital Anomalies	40	619	29	991	- 372
Cervical Cancer	41	533	33	704	- 171
Peptic Ulcer Disease	42	467	19	1,712	- 1,246
Anemia	43	437	85	0	+ 437
Violence	44	328	28	1,082	- 754
Multiple Sclerosis	45	323	60	40	+ 283
Asthma	46	280	22	1,439	- 1,159
Drownings	47	173	27	1,126	- 953
Fires	48	165	46	253	- 89
Rheumatoid Arthritis	49	159	50	198	- 39
Low Birth Weight	50	153	25	1,208	- 1,055
Osteoarthritis	51	129	81	0	+ 129
Hepatitis C	52	116	64	10	+ 106
Birth Trauma	53	103	32	736	- 633
Tuberculosis	54	100	4	17,417	- 17,317
Poisonings	55	90	41	366	- 276
Schizophrenia	56	87	83	0	+ 87
HIV/AIDS	57	79	31	753	- 674
Meningitis	58	63	49	207	- 144
Upper Respiratory	59	48	56	67	- 18
Prostatic Hypertrophy	60	44	80	0	+ 44
Oral conditions	61	42	82	0	+ 42
Appendicitis	62	37	57	57	- 20
Hepatitis B	63	36	55	68	- 32
Maternal Conditions	64	13	47	252	- 238
Otitis Media	65	4	70	0	+ 4
Encephalitis	66	3	54	117	- 114
War	67	3	63	16	- 14
Pertussis	68	2	61	34	- 32
Diphtheria	69	0	68	0	- 0
Syphilis	70	0	58	54	- 54
Chlamydia	71	0	66	1	- 1
Leprosy	72	0	71	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	73	0	75	0	- 0
Trypanosomiasis	74	0	73	0	- 0
Malaria	75	0	69	0	- 0
Schistosomiasis	76	0	74	0	- 0
Chagas disease	77	0	72	0	- 0
Tetanus	78	0	62	28	- 28
Measles	79	0	65	4	- 4
Hookworm Disease	80	0	78	0	- 0
Trichuriasis	81	0	77	0	- 0
Ascariasis	82	0	67	1	- 1
Dengue	83	0	76	0	- 0
Iodine Deficiency	84	0	79	0	- 0
Depression	85	0	84	0	- 0
Vitamin A Deficiency	86	0	86	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to NORTH KOREA

Belgium

North Korea

THE INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE

The point of this intellectual exercise is to measure what would happen if two countries shared the same leading causes of death. To make these comparisons possible we equalized the population and used total deaths for each country's top 10 causes to simulate an "Exchange." Use the chart on the left to sort by the country name and use the summary plus and minus column to measure the differences in total deaths.

Life Expectancy statistics are calculated the same way everywhere in the world, but what we die from can be very different depending upon where we live. Despite these differences, with rare exception, the top 10 causes of death for any given country will represent between 70-80% of their total deaths. This is an intellectual exercise only, not a comparison of which country is healthier or to challenge existing life expectancy rankings. If you prefer to see total deaths for over 80 causes and choose your own countries to compare go here: https://www.globallifeexpectancy.com/world-rankings-total-deaths

ABOUT OUR DATA

All meaningful comparisons between countries should be made using the same data source and year. The most reliable source for International comparisons is the World Health Organization because it is standardized for cross cultural comparisons. It is also reviewed annually, which often makes it more current than individual country data that can take years to compile. The WHO data includes individual country "projections," that are calculated based upon an annual consultation with each country before it is published. There are differences however, such as WHO data separates different forms of heart disease and cancer and combines Alzheimer's with Dementia. In this top 10 comparison WHO data for both countries was used.