SOUTH AFRICA VS NORTH KOREA: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

Click Country Link To Compare

	NORTH KOREA		SOUTH AFRICA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Stroke	1	114,106	4	30,693	+ 83,413
Coronary Heart Disease	2	72,034	3	32,739	+ 39,295
Lung Disease	3	60,165	13	11,895	+ 48,270
Tuberculosis	4	40,030	6	21,965	+ 18,065
Lung Cancers	5	27,335	15	7,705	+ 19,629
Influenza and Pneumonia	6	14,320	2	39,341	- 25,021
Road Traffic Accidents	7	14,272	11	13,014	+ 1,258
Hypertension	8	12,337	12	12,789	- 451
Liver Cancer	9	12,240	33	2,383	+ 9,857
Liver Disease	10	10,357	14	9,013	+ 1,344
Alzheimers & Dementia	11	9,974	22	4,676	+ 5,298
Kidney Disease	12	9,098	9	15,302	- 6,203
Stomach Cancer	13	8,667	39	1,535	+ 7,132
Diabetes Mellitus	14	8,436	5	30,188	- 21,751
Colon-Rectum Cancers	15	7,427	28	3,587	+ 3,841
Suicide	16	5,532	10	13,774	- 8,242
Rheumatic Heart Disease	17	4,809	47	1,015	+ 3,795
Falls	18	4,140	42	1,399	+ 2,741
Peptic Ulcer Disease	19	3,935	36	1,894	+ 2,041
Other Injuries	20	3,519	17	6,014	- 2,495
Pancreas Cancer	21	3,506	35	2,007	+ 1,499
Asthma	22	3,307	18	5,966	- 2,659
Breast Cancer	23	3,139	23	4,533	- 1,394
Oesophagus Cancer	24	2,809	29	3,486	- 676
Low Birth Weight	25	2,777	16	6,250	- 3,473
Parkinson's Disease	26	2,654	46	1,077	+ 1,577
Drownings	27	2,588	32	2,403	+ 185
Violence	28	2,487	7	21,000	- 18,512
Congenital Anomalies	29	2,277	25	4,351	- 2,073
Leukemia	30	2,218	40	1,464	+ 754
HIV/AIDS	31	1,731	1	71,996	- 70,264
Birth Trauma	32	1,691	30	3,004	- 1,312
Cervical Cancer	33	1,618	20	5,555	- 3,937
Inflammatory/Heart	34	1,572	21	5,408	- 3,836
Lymphomas	35	1,287	31	2,818	- 1,531
Ovary Cancer	36	1,222	51	951	+ 271
Oral Cancer	37	1,178	41	1,406	- 228
Bladder Cancer	38	1,148	52	829	+ 319
Endocrine Disorders	39	1,038	19	5,890	- 4,852
Diarrhoeal diseases	40	861	8	15,843	- 14,983
Poisonings	41	842	50	975	- 133
Drug Use	42	819	53	770	+ 50
Malnutrition	43	729	34	2,381	- 1,651
Alcohol	44	700	49	987	- 287
Epilepsy	45	611	37	1,870	- 1,259
Fires	46	582	27	3,618	- 3,035
Maternal Conditions	47	578	38	1,700	- 1,121
Prostate Cancer	48	503	24	4,374	- 3,871
Meningitis	49	476	26	3,660	- 3,185
Rheumatoid Arthritis	50	456	55	376	+ 80
Skin Cancers	51	387	48	993	- 606
Skin Disease	52	364	45	1,101	- 737
Uterin Cancer	53	317	54	512	- 195
Encephalitis	54	269	59	234	+ 35
Hepatitis B	55	157	61	139	+ 18
Upper Respiratory	56	153	60	223	- 70
Appendicitis	57	130	56	274	- 144
Syphilis	58	124	44	1,130	- 1,005
Other Neoplasms	59	100	58	267	- 166
Multiple Sclerosis	60	91	62	113	- 22
Pertussis	61	79	43	1,142	- 1,063
Tetanus	62	63	65	38	+ 26
War	63	38	64	66	- 28
Hepatitis C	64	24	70	8	+ 16
Measles	65	8	57	270	- 262
Chlamydia	66	3	68	18	- 15
Ascariasis	67	2	71	3	- 1
Diphtheria	68	1	69	16	- 15
Malaria	69	1	63	83	- 82
Otitis Media	70	1	67	19	- 18
Leprosy	71	0	75	0	- 0
Chagas disease	72	0	78	0	- 0
Trypanosomiasis	73	0	76	0	- 0
Schistosomiasis	74	0	66	35	- 35
Leishmaniasis	75	0	77	0	- 0
Dengue	76	0	73	0	- 0
Trichuriasis	77	0	74	0	- 0
Hookworm Disease	78	0	72	0	- 0
Iodine Deficiency	79	0	79	0	- 0
Prostatic Hypertrophy	80	0	86	0	- 0
Osteoarthritis	81	0	85	0	- 0
Oral conditions	82	0	84	0	- 0
Schizophrenia	83	0	80	0	- 0
Depression	84	0	83	0	- 0
Anemia	85	0	82	0	- 0
Vitamin A Deficiency	86	0	81	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to SOUTH AFRICA

North Korea

South Africa

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.