Depressing report: Hungary mortality rate second highest globally

Noncommunicable diseases kill around 41 million people a year across the globe and more than 15 million of those deaths affect people below the age of 70, with the biggest culprits being cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

The experts at William Russell analysed countries on the number of deaths from diseases such as cancer, heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, kidney disease and stroke per 100,000 of the population, to reveal the countries with the highest mortality rates in the world.

The countries with the highest mortality rates in the world:

The country with the highest mortality score from life-threatening illnesses is Turkey, with an overall score of 8.34. Turkey also places in the top five for strokes and lung disease, with 49.06 and 28.02 deaths per 100,000 respectively.

Hungary in 2nd place globally

Hungary takes second place with an overall mortality score of 8.29. The country has the highest cancer mortality rate in the index with 162.44 deaths per 100,000, the highest rate of lung disease deaths with 30.26 per 100,000, and places second for deaths from both strokes and liver disease.

Completing the top three is Slovak Republic with a mortality score of 7.57.  The country placed in the top 10 for five of the six factors William Russell looked at, scoring particularly highly when it comes to cancer deaths with 157.25 per 100,000 people, the second highest rate for the factor.

The highest cancer mortality rate: Hungary

The central European nation of Hungary takes the top spot for its cancer mortality rate. Hungarians have a relatively high rate of obesity and being overweight, a big risk factor when it comes to cancer, with 60% of its population falling into this category in 2019. Coupled with a shortage of cancer care specialists relative to other EU countries, Hungary has 162.44 cancer deaths per 100,000 people.

Cancer is the most common cause of mortality globally, with an average of 114.09 deaths per 100,000 people caused by the disease.

The highest lung disease mortality rate: Hungary

Hungary takes the unfortunate title of having the highest lung disease mortality rate in the OECD with 30.26 deaths from the disease per 100,000 people. Smoking, both active and passive, is one of the biggest risk factors in contracting lung disease, and as more than 30% of Hungary’s population are smokers, it’s no wonder the country has the highest mortality rate from this disease.

Methodology

Beginning with a list of OECD countries and US States, William Russell analysed each one on the number of deaths per 100,000 of the population (the age-standardised total number of deaths from each disease divided by the total population and multiplied by 100,000) from cancers, coronary heart disease, stroke, lung disease, liver disease, and kidney disease in 2020 according to World Life Expectancy.

To find the mortality score out of 10, experts ranked each country on those mortality rates per 100,000 people, giving them a normalised score. They then took an average score across every factor to reach the final mortality score.

To find the developed world’s deadliest noncommunicable diseases, an average was calculated using data from each OECD country.

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