Table 1.
Top 10 leading causes of death in China vs the United States
| Rank | China | United States | ||||
| Diseases | Deaths | Death rate (%) | Diseases | Deaths | Death rate (%) | |
| 1 | Stroke | 2 125 802 | 23.92 | Coronary heart disease | 445 864 | 21.42 |
| 2 | Lung disease | 1 287 089 | 14.48 | Alzheimer/dementia | 172 765 | 8.30 |
| 3 | Coronary heart disease | 1 040 692 | 11.71 | Lung cancers | 165 402 | 7.95 |
| 4 | Lung cancers | 460 856 | 5.19 | Stroke | 146 664 | 7.05 |
| 5 | Liver cancer | 380 491 | 4.28 | Lung disease | 130 808 | 6.29 |
| 6 | Stomach cancer | 354 829 | 3.99 | Diabetes mellitus | 75 280 | 3.62 |
| 7 | Road traffic accidents | 292 481 | 3.29 | Colorectal cancers | 62 592 | 3.01 |
| 8 | Esophageal cancer | 212 537 | 2.39 | Hypertension | 62 156 | 2.99 |
| 9 | Other injuries | 209 836 | 2.36 | Pneumonia | 57 722 | 2.77 |
| 10 | Hypertension | 205 689 | 2.31 | Kidney disease | 50 889 | 2.45 |
Esophageal cancer is the No. 8 killer in China, while in the United States, it is No. 29. Here the death rate is the percentage of the total deaths nationwide. Data from World Health Organization, World Bank and National Institute of Health.