NORTH KOREA VS USA: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	UNITED STATES		NORTH KOREA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Coronary Heart Disease	1	38,830	2	31,342	+ 7,488
Alzheimers & Dementia	2	22,087	11	4,340	+ 17,747
Lung Disease	3	15,026	3	26,178	- 11,152
Stroke	4	12,191	1	49,648	- 37,457
Lung Cancers	5	11,961	5	11,893	+ 68
Kidney Disease	6	6,603	12	3,959	+ 2,644
Drug Use	7	5,724	42	356	+ 5,368
Hypertension	8	5,073	8	5,368	- 295
Colon-Rectum Cancers	9	4,755	15	3,232	+ 1,523
Diabetes Mellitus	10	4,723	14	3,671	+ 1,053
Influenza and Pneumonia	11	4,639	6	6,231	- 1,592
Suicide	12	4,084	16	2,407	+ 1,677
Breast Cancer	13	3,743	23	1,366	+ 2,377
Endocrine Disorders	14	3,613	39	452	+ 3,162
Pancreas Cancer	15	3,406	21	1,525	+ 1,881
Liver Disease	16	3,338	10	4,506	- 1,169
Road Traffic Accidents	17	3,206	7	6,210	- 3,003
Falls	18	3,108	18	1,801	+ 1,307
Lymphomas	19	3,098	35	560	+ 2,538
Prostate Cancer	20	2,739	48	219	+ 2,520
Parkinson's Disease	21	2,653	26	1,155	+ 1,498
Inflammatory/Heart	22	2,502	34	684	+ 1,817
Liver Cancer	23	2,081	9	5,326	- 3,244
Leukemia	24	2,074	30	965	+ 1,109
Other Injuries	25	1,999	20	1,531	+ 468
Bladder Cancer	26	1,509	38	500	+ 1,009
Violence	27	1,459	28	1,082	+ 377
Oesophagus Cancer	28	1,371	24	1,222	+ 149
Other Neoplasms	29	1,365	59	44	+ 1,321
Alcohol	30	1,127	44	304	+ 823
Ovary Cancer	31	1,122	36	532	+ 590
Skin Cancers	32	1,101	51	168	+ 932
Stomach Cancer	33	1,006	13	3,771	- 2,765
Congenital Anomalies	34	905	29	991	- 86
Oral Cancer	35	889	37	513	+ 376
Uterin Cancer	36	774	53	138	+ 636
Diarrhoeal diseases	37	766	40	374	+ 391
Cervical Cancer	38	537	33	704	- 167
Low Birth Weight	39	532	25	1,208	- 676
Malnutrition	40	520	43	317	+ 203
Hepatitis C	41	437	64	10	+ 427
HIV/AIDS	42	435	31	753	- 318
Skin Disease	43	416	52	158	+ 258
Multiple Sclerosis	44	389	60	40	+ 349
Drownings	45	313	27	1,126	- 813
Asthma	46	294	22	1,439	- 1,145
Rheumatic Heart Disease	47	280	17	2,093	- 1,812
Peptic Ulcer Disease	48	266	19	1,712	- 1,446
Fires	49	245	46	253	- 9
Epilepsy	50	243	45	266	- 23
Anemia	51	240	85	0	+ 240
Rheumatoid Arthritis	52	189	50	198	- 9
Poisonings	53	129	41	366	- 238
Birth Trauma	54	95	32	736	- 641
War	55	92	63	16	+ 76
Maternal Conditions	56	60	47	252	- 192
Schizophrenia	57	56	83	0	+ 56
Prostatic Hypertrophy	58	52	80	0	+ 52
Hepatitis B	59	47	55	68	- 22
Meningitis	60	47	49	207	- 160
Osteoarthritis	61	45	81	0	+ 45
Tuberculosis	62	42	4	17,417	- 17,375
Appendicitis	63	33	57	57	- 24
Oral conditions	64	22	82	0	+ 22
Upper Respiratory	65	18	56	67	- 49
Syphilis	66	4	58	54	- 50
Otitis Media	67	3	70	0	+ 2
Encephalitis	68	2	54	117	- 115
Pertussis	69	1	61	34	- 33
Chagas disease	70	0	72	0	+ 0
Tetanus	71	0	62	28	- 27
Schistosomiasis	72	0	74	0	+ 0
Iodine Deficiency	73	0	79	0	+ 0
Leprosy	74	0	71	0	+ 0
Diphtheria	75	0	68	0	- 0
Dengue	76	0	76	0	+ 0
Malaria	77	0	69	0	- 0
Trypanosomiasis	78	0	73	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	79	0	75	0	- 0
Measles	80	0	65	4	- 4
Hookworm Disease	81	0	78	0	- 0
Ascariasis	82	0	67	1	- 1
Trichuriasis	83	0	77	0	- 0
Chlamydia	84	0	66	1	- 1
Vitamin A Deficiency	85	0	86	0	- 0
Depression	86	0	84	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to NORTH KOREA

United States

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.