Table 1-1. – COVID-19 was the first of 10 leading causes of death in Brazil in 2021.

Male Rank	Cause	%	Female Rank	Cause	%
1	COVID-19	24.3	1	COVID-19	24.0
2	Ischemic heart disease	6.9	2	Cerebrovascular disease	6.4
3	Cerebrovascular disease	5.3	3	Ischemic heart disease	6.0
4	Homicide	3.9	4	Diabetes mellitus	5.2
5	Lower respiratory infections	3.8	5	Lower respiratory infections	4.4
6	Diabetes mellitus	3.6	6	Alzheimer and other dementias	2.7
7	Road traffic accidents	2.6	7	Breast cancer	2.3
8	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	2	8	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	2.0
9	Cirrhosis of the liver	1.7	9	Hypertensive disease	1.8
10	Prostate cancer	1.6	10	Tracheal, bronchial and lung cancers	1.6

Source: Ministry of Health of Brazil Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System (SIH/SUS). ⁴⁹