NORTH KOREA VS JAPAN: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	JAPAN		NORTH KOREA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Coronary Heart Disease	1	34,987	2	31,342	+ 3,645
Stroke	2	26,004	1	49,648	- 23,644
Influenza and Pneumonia	3	23,032	6	6,231	+ 16,801
Lung Cancers	4	17,010	5	11,893	+ 5,117
Lung Disease	5	16,686	3	26,178	- 9,492
Colon-Rectum Cancers	6	12,240	15	3,232	+ 9,008
Alzheimers & Dementia	7	12,154	11	4,340	+ 7,814
Stomach Cancer	8	10,765	13	3,771	+ 6,994
Kidney Disease	9	9,559	12	3,959	+ 5,600
Pancreas Cancer	10	7,904	21	1,525	+ 6,378
Liver Cancer	11	6,272	9	5,326	+ 947
Other Injuries	12	4,711	20	1,531	+ 3,180
Suicide	13	4,155	16	2,407	+ 1,748
Lymphomas	14	4,114	35	560	+ 3,554
Breast Cancer	15	3,374	23	1,366	+ 2,008
Other Neoplasms	16	3,227	59	44	+ 3,184
Liver Disease	17	3,030	10	4,506	- 1,476
Parkinson's Disease	18	2,990	26	1,155	+ 1,835
Prostate Cancer	19	2,885	48	219	+ 2,666
Oesophagus Cancer	20	2,629	24	1,222	+ 1,407
Endocrine Disorders	21	2,452	39	452	+ 2,000
Bladder Cancer	22	2,121	38	500	+ 1,621
Falls	23	2,078	18	1,801	+ 277
Leukemia	24	2,051	30	965	+ 1,086
Drownings	25	1,795	27	1,126	+ 669
Oral Cancer	26	1,779	37	513	+ 1,266
Inflammatory/Heart	27	1,757	34	684	+ 1,073
Hypertension	28	1,424	8	5,368	- 3,944
Diabetes Mellitus	29	1,160	14	3,671	- 2,511
Ovary Cancer	30	1,080	36	532	+ 549
Road Traffic Accidents	31	975	7	6,210	- 5,235
Cervical Cancer	32	811	33	704	+ 107
Uterin Cancer	33	739	53	138	+ 601
Tuberculosis	34	738	4	17,417	- 16,679
Peptic Ulcer Disease	35	624	19	1,712	- 1,089
Skin Disease	36	599	52	158	+ 441
Diarrhoeal diseases	37	583	40	374	+ 209
Rheumatoid Arthritis	38	559	50	198	+ 360
Rheumatic Heart Disease	39	545	17	2,093	- 1,547
Congenital Anomalies	40	528	29	991	- 463
Hepatitis C	41	474	64	10	+ 463
Asthma	42	410	22	1,439	- 1,029
Malnutrition	43	408	43	317	+ 90
Skin Cancers	44	393	51	168	+ 225
Epilepsy	45	333	45	266	+ 67
Hepatitis B	46	304	55	68	+ 235
Schizophrenia	47	225	83	0	+ 225
Fires	48	215	46	253	- 38
Anemia	49	187	85	0	+ 187
Drug Use	50	156	42	356	- 200
Alcohol	51	123	44	304	- 182
Meningitis	52	66	49	207	- 141
Violence	53	57	28	1,082	- 1,025
Poisonings	54	54	41	366	- 312
Low Birth Weight	55	43	25	1,208	- 1,165
Prostatic Hypertrophy	56	37	80	0	+ 37
Upper Respiratory	57	34	56	67	- 33
Appendicitis	58	27	57	57	- 30
Multiple Sclerosis	59	23	60	40	- 17
Oral conditions	60	23	82	0	+ 23
Birth Trauma	61	22	32	736	- 714
Osteoarthritis	62	18	81	0	+ 18
HIV/AIDS	63	10	31	753	- 743
Maternal Conditions	64	8	47	252	- 243
Syphilis	65	3	58	54	- 51
War	66	3	63	16	- 13
Tetanus	67	2	62	28	- 26
Otitis Media	68	2	70	0	+ 1
Encephalitis	69	1	54	117	- 116
Iodine Deficiency	70	0	79	0	+ 0
Pertussis	71	0	61	34	- 34
Schistosomiasis	72	0	74	0	+ 0
Leprosy	73	0	71	0	+ 0
Diphtheria	74	0	68	0	- 0
Measles	75	0	65	4	- 4
Trypanosomiasis	76	0	73	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	77	0	75	0	- 0
Chagas disease	78	0	72	0	- 0
Malaria	79	0	69	0	- 0
Chlamydia	80	0	66	1	- 1
Hookworm Disease	81	0	78	0	- 0
Ascariasis	82	0	67	1	- 1
Dengue	83	0	76	0	- 0
Trichuriasis	84	0	77	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

Japan

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.