SOUTH KOREA VS USA: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	UNITED STATES		SOUTH KOREA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Coronary Heart Disease	1	76,898	1	28,043	+ 48,855
Alzheimers & Dementia	2	43,741	6	12,145	+ 31,596
Lung Disease	3	29,758	11	8,526	+ 21,231
Stroke	4	24,143	3	25,596	- 1,453
Lung Cancers	5	23,688	4	20,293	+ 3,395
Kidney Disease	6	13,077	9	10,107	+ 2,970
Drug Use	7	11,337	50	154	+ 11,182
Hypertension	8	10,046	17	3,711	+ 6,335
Colon-Rectum Cancers	9	9,416	8	10,180	- 764
Diabetes Mellitus	10	9,354	13	6,812	+ 2,542
Influenza and Pneumonia	11	9,186	2	26,650	- 17,463
Suicide	12	8,087	5	14,636	- 6,549
Breast Cancer	13	7,413	21	2,880	+ 4,532
Endocrine Disorders	14	7,156	25	1,891	+ 5,265
Pancreas Cancer	15	6,746	12	6,994	- 248
Liver Disease	16	6,610	14	6,348	+ 262
Road Traffic Accidents	17	6,350	15	4,399	+ 1,951
Falls	18	6,156	20	2,934	+ 3,222
Lymphomas	19	6,135	19	3,477	+ 2,658
Prostate Cancer	20	5,424	22	2,316	+ 3,108
Parkinson's Disease	21	5,253	16	3,951	+ 1,302
Inflammatory/Heart	22	4,954	31	1,325	+ 3,629
Liver Cancer	23	4,122	7	11,589	- 7,467
Leukemia	24	4,107	23	2,140	+ 1,967
Other Injuries	25	3,959	18	3,634	+ 326
Bladder Cancer	26	2,988	27	1,768	+ 1,220
Violence	27	2,890	44	386	+ 2,504
Oesophagus Cancer	28	2,715	28	1,733	+ 983
Other Neoplasms	29	2,702	26	1,807	+ 896
Alcohol	30	2,233	33	1,081	+ 1,152
Ovary Cancer	31	2,222	30	1,330	+ 892
Skin Cancers	32	2,180	37	585	+ 1,595
Stomach Cancer	33	1,992	10	8,625	- 6,633
Congenital Anomalies	34	1,791	41	518	+ 1,273
Oral Cancer	35	1,760	29	1,457	+ 303
Uterin Cancer	36	1,533	43	420	+ 1,113
Diarrhoeal diseases	37	1,516	35	929	+ 588
Cervical Cancer	38	1,064	34	1,065	- 1
Low Birth Weight	39	1,055	45	370	+ 684
Malnutrition	40	1,030	53	88	+ 941
Hepatitis C	41	866	49	168	+ 698
HIV/AIDS	42	862	55	84	+ 778
Skin Disease	43	824	36	704	+ 120
Multiple Sclerosis	44	771	66	11	+ 760
Drownings	45	620	42	501	+ 119
Asthma	46	582	32	1,150	- 569
Rheumatic Heart Disease	47	555	48	224	+ 331
Peptic Ulcer Disease	48	527	38	540	- 12
Fires	49	485	47	263	+ 222
Epilepsy	50	482	40	524	- 43
Anemia	51	474	46	329	+ 145
Rheumatoid Arthritis	52	375	51	150	+ 225
Poisonings	53	255	52	115	+ 140
Birth Trauma	54	188	54	88	+ 100
War	55	182	68	5	+ 177
Maternal Conditions	56	119	61	34	+ 85
Schizophrenia	57	110	56	77	+ 33
Prostatic Hypertrophy	58	103	59	49	+ 54
Hepatitis B	59	93	39	526	- 434
Meningitis	60	92	58	51	+ 42
Osteoarthritis	61	88	60	41	+ 47
Tuberculosis	62	83	24	1,950	- 1,867
Appendicitis	63	65	57	54	+ 11
Oral conditions	64	43	64	21	+ 22
Upper Respiratory	65	35	63	26	+ 9
Syphilis	66	8	62	27	- 19
Otitis Media	67	5	70	5	+ 1
Encephalitis	68	4	65	19	- 15
Pertussis	69	2	67	6	- 4
Chagas disease	70	1	80	0	+ 1
Tetanus	71	0	69	5	- 4
Schistosomiasis	72	0	72	1	- 1
Iodine Deficiency	73	0	81	0	+ 0
Leprosy	74	0	82	0	+ 0
Diphtheria	75	0	73	0	+ 0
Dengue	76	0	77	0	+ 0
Malaria	77	0	71	1	- 1
Trypanosomiasis	78	0	78	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	79	0	79	0	- 0
Measles	80	0	83	0	- 0
Hookworm Disease	81	0	76	0	- 0
Ascariasis	82	0	74	0	- 0
Trichuriasis	83	0	75	0	- 0
Chlamydia	84	0	84	0	- 0
Vitamin A Deficiency	85	0	85	0	- 0
Depression	86	0	86	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to SOUTH KOREA

United States

South 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.