NORTH KOREA VS SOUTH AFRICA: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	SOUTH AFRICA		NORTH KOREA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
HIV/AIDS	1	31,325	31	753	+ 30,572
Influenza and Pneumonia	2	17,117	6	6,231	+ 10,887
Coronary Heart Disease	3	14,245	2	31,342	- 17,097
Stroke	4	13,355	1	49,648	- 36,293
Diabetes Mellitus	5	13,135	14	3,671	+ 9,464
Tuberculosis	6	9,557	4	17,417	- 7,860
Violence	7	9,137	28	1,082	+ 8,055
Diarrhoeal diseases	8	6,893	40	374	+ 6,519
Kidney Disease	9	6,658	12	3,959	+ 2,699
Suicide	10	5,993	16	2,407	+ 3,586
Road Traffic Accidents	11	5,662	7	6,210	- 547
Hypertension	12	5,564	8	5,368	+ 196
Lung Disease	13	5,175	3	26,178	- 21,002
Liver Disease	14	3,922	10	4,506	- 585
Lung Cancers	15	3,353	5	11,893	- 8,541
Low Birth Weight	16	2,719	25	1,208	+ 1,511
Other Injuries	17	2,617	20	1,531	+ 1,085
Asthma	18	2,596	22	1,439	+ 1,157
Endocrine Disorders	19	2,563	39	452	+ 2,111
Cervical Cancer	20	2,417	33	704	+ 1,713
Inflammatory/Heart	21	2,353	34	684	+ 1,669
Alzheimers & Dementia	22	2,035	11	4,340	- 2,305
Breast Cancer	23	1,972	23	1,366	+ 607
Prostate Cancer	24	1,903	48	219	+ 1,684
Congenital Anomalies	25	1,893	29	991	+ 902
Meningitis	26	1,593	49	207	+ 1,386
Fires	27	1,574	46	253	+ 1,321
Colon-Rectum Cancers	28	1,561	15	3,232	- 1,671
Oesophagus Cancer	29	1,517	24	1,222	+ 294
Birth Trauma	30	1,307	32	736	+ 571
Lymphomas	31	1,226	35	560	+ 666
Drownings	32	1,046	27	1,126	- 80
Liver Cancer	33	1,037	9	5,326	- 4,289
Malnutrition	34	1,036	43	317	+ 718
Pancreas Cancer	35	873	21	1,525	- 652
Peptic Ulcer Disease	36	824	19	1,712	- 888
Epilepsy	37	814	45	266	+ 548
Maternal Conditions	38	739	47	252	+ 488
Stomach Cancer	39	668	13	3,771	- 3,103
Leukemia	40	637	30	965	- 328
Oral Cancer	41	612	37	513	+ 99
Falls	42	609	18	1,801	- 1,192
Pertussis	43	497	61	34	+ 463
Syphilis	44	491	58	54	+ 437
Skin Disease	45	479	52	158	+ 321
Parkinson's Disease	46	469	26	1,155	- 686
Rheumatic Heart Disease	47	441	17	2,093	- 1,651
Skin Cancers	48	432	51	168	+ 264
Alcohol	49	429	44	304	+ 125
Poisonings	50	424	41	366	+ 58
Ovary Cancer	51	414	36	532	- 118
Bladder Cancer	52	361	38	500	- 139
Drug Use	53	335	42	356	- 22
Uterin Cancer	54	223	53	138	+ 85
Rheumatoid Arthritis	55	163	50	198	- 35
Appendicitis	56	119	57	57	+ 62
Measles	57	118	65	4	+ 114
Other Neoplasms	58	116	59	44	+ 72
Encephalitis	59	102	54	117	- 15
Upper Respiratory	60	97	56	67	+ 30
Hepatitis B	61	61	55	68	- 8
Multiple Sclerosis	62	49	60	40	+ 9
Malaria	63	36	69	0	+ 36
War	64	29	63	16	+ 12
Tetanus	65	16	62	28	- 11
Schistosomiasis	66	15	74	0	+ 15
Otitis Media	67	8	70	0	+ 8
Chlamydia	68	8	66	1	+ 6
Diphtheria	69	7	68	0	+ 7
Hepatitis C	70	3	64	10	- 7
Ascariasis	71	1	67	1	+ 0
Hookworm Disease	72	0	78	0	- 0
Dengue	73	0	76	0	- 0
Trichuriasis	74	0	77	0	- 0
Leprosy	75	0	71	0	- 0
Trypanosomiasis	76	0	73	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	77	0	75	0	- 0
Chagas disease	78	0	72	0	- 0
Iodine Deficiency	79	0	79	0	- 0
Schizophrenia	80	0	83	0	- 0
Vitamin A Deficiency	81	0	86	0	- 0
Anemia	82	0	85	0	- 0
Depression	83	0	84	0	- 0
Oral conditions	84	0	82	0	- 0
Osteoarthritis	85	0	81	0	- 0
Prostatic Hypertrophy	86	0	80	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to NORTH KOREA

South Africa

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.