ISCHEMIC heart disease, tumor growth and cerebrovascular diseases including stroke remained the three leading causes of death in the Philippines last year, according to the local statistics agency.
In a report, it said deaths due to ischemic heart disease — heart weakening caused by reduced blood flow to the heart — reached 122,027, 18.8% of 647,893 deaths listed last year.
Neoplasms or tumors were the second-highest cause of death with 69,449 or 10.7% of the total, followed by cerebrovascular diseases with 65,224 or 10.1%.
Completing the top five causes of deaths were diabetes mellitus at 41,056 or 6.3% and pneumonia at 40,082 or 6.2%.
In a separate report, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country’s birth, death, and marriage rates declined by 7.6%, 4.7% and 13.3%, respectively from 2022.
Philippine births in 2023 fell to 1.3 million from 1.5 million, while deaths went down to 647,893 from 679,766. Marriages fell to 389,673 from 449,428. — Abigail Marie P. Yraola
