HEART diseases remained the leading cause of deaths among Filipinos in 2023, according to a report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PSA said that the Top 3 causes of death in the country last year were ischemic heart diseases, neoplasms, and cerebrovascular diseases. These were also the leading causes of death in 2022.
Ischemic heart diseases accounted for 107,767 cases or 19 percent of the total deaths in the country. Ischemic heart disease, also called coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease, refers to heart problems caused by narrowed arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle.
Neoplasms or tumors, came in second with 60,906 deaths (10.7 percent share).
Cerebrovascular diseases, which refer to conditions affecting blood flow, were the third leading cause which accounted for 57,288 recorded cases (10.1 percent share) from January to December 2023.
Meanwhile, deaths due to diabetes mellitus recorded 36,039 cases or 6.3 percent share, making it the fourth leading cause of death, while deaths due to pneumonia, which ranked fifth, recorded 34,507 cases or 6.1 percent share.
The PSA also reported that the provisional number of registered deaths in 2023 reached 567,840, lower by 16.5 percent than the total registered deaths of 679,766 in the same period in 2022.
Among regions, Calabarzon recorded the highest number of registered deaths from January to December 2023 at 88,815 or 15.6 percent of the total deaths in the country.
