This statistic displays the age-standardized death rate in Canada from 2000 to 2017, including all causes. In 2007, around 714 out of 100 thousand Canadians died from any cause. In 2017, the death rate stood at over 755 per 100,000.

Death rates in Canada

Cardiovascular disease and cancer are two of the most common causes of deaths in Canada and among other developed countries. In Canada major cardiovascular diseases accounted for 195 deaths per 100,000 population in 2017 and cancer accounted for around 218 deaths per 100,000 population. The decrease in mortality rate in Canada can be attributed to improvements in preventive programs, social and environmental aspects, and medical care. Other factors such as improved treatment and diagnosis of high blood pressure and lipid levels, as well as lower rates of smoking and physical inactivity may have helped to lower the death rate. In the early 1900s, the main reason that death rates declined was due to an improved ability to withstand and prevent infectious diseases, one of the leading causes of death during that time.

The life expectancy in Canada as of 2015 was at 81.7 years of age, and in the same year, Switzerland had one of the highest life expectancies in the world at 83 years. Between 1970 and 2015, Canada’s life expectancy at birth increased by 8.8 years.