Causes of death in the EU in 2012: More than 670 000 persons died from respiratory diseases

In the European Union in 2012, diseases of the respiratory system, including lung cancer, were the cause of death for 671 900 persons, 13% of all deaths. Men (398 400 deaths due to respiratory diseases) were more affected than women (273 600).

Among the various diseases of the respiratory system, lung cancer (leading to the deaths of 40% of all deaths due to respiratory diseases), bronchitis and other chronic lower respiratory diseases (24%) and pneumonia (19%) were particularly prominent in the EU as causes of deaths.

The highest share of deaths from diseases of the respiratory system including lung cancer was recorded in 2012 in the United Kingdom (20.3%), followed by Denmark (18.4%), Ireland (18.2%), the Netherlands (17.8%) and Spain (17.1%). In contrast, respiratory diseases accounted for less than 8% of all causes of death in Latvia (5.8%), Lithuania (6.4%), Bulgaria (7.0%) and Estonia (7.4%). In the EU, deaths due to respiratory diseases represented 13.4% of all deaths.

This information comes from a report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.