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Heart & circulation

Who dies of high blood pressure & other circulatory disease?

In the median of the 36 countries that publish causes of death by age, 6.2% of men and 8.0% of women eventually die of high blood pressure & other circulatory disease. It is the most likely cause of death in 36 of their 1,152 country, sex and age groups.

The risk by age

Chance of dying of high blood pressure & other circulatory disease within 10 years, and its share of all the risk at that age — the median of 36 countries. Your own country's numbers are one click away on its page.

Agemenwomen
15–19<0.01% (0.77% of the risk)<0.01% (1.9% of the risk)
20–24<0.01% (1.5% of the risk)<0.01% (2.0% of the risk)
25–290.02% (2.1% of the risk)0.01% (2.3% of the risk)
30–340.03% (2.4% of the risk)0.02% (2.8% of the risk)
35–390.05% (3.1% of the risk)0.03% (3.2% of the risk)
40–440.09% (3.8% of the risk)0.05% (3.1% of the risk)
45–490.16% (4.3% of the risk)0.06% (3.0% of the risk)
50–540.27% (4.4% of the risk)0.10% (3.4% of the risk)
55–590.37% (4.3% of the risk)0.19% (3.8% of the risk)
60–640.59% (4.1% of the risk)0.35% (4.4% of the risk)
65–691.0% (4.5% of the risk)0.71% (5.4% of the risk)
70–741.8% (5.2% of the risk)1.6% (6.7% of the risk)
75–793.0% (5.8% of the risk)3.1% (7.8% of the risk)
80–844.9% (6.8% of the risk)5.9% (8.8% of the risk)
85–896.5% (7.4% of the risk)8.2% (9.6% of the risk)
90–947.6% (8.0% of the risk)9.8% (10% of the risk)

Where it's the most likely cause of death

Lifetime chance, men: highest and lowest countries

  1. Romania17%
  2. Estonia16%
  3. Serbia13%
  4. Croatia12%
  5. Hungary11%
  6. Bulgaria10%
  7. Poland7.7%
  8. Finland7.4%
  9. Italy7.1%
  10. Czechia6.6%
  11. Canada3.1%
  12. Belgium2.9%
  13. Malta2.6%

Lifetime chance, women: highest and lowest countries

  1. Estonia28%
  2. Romania24%
  3. Croatia18%
  4. Serbia18%
  5. Hungary16%
  6. Bulgaria13%
  7. Poland11%
  8. Slovenia11%
  9. Finland11%
  10. Austria11%
  11. Canada4.0%
  12. Belgium3.6%
  13. Netherlands3.4%

What changes the odds

What you can do

  • Have your blood pressure checked regularly and treated if it's high.
  • Eat less salt.
  • Men 65 and over who have ever smoked: a one-off ultrasound finds an aortic aneurysm before it can burst.

Act fast: Sudden severe pain in the tummy or back, with dizziness or fainting: call your emergency number.

Sources: 2024 ESC Guidelines on elevated blood pressure and hypertension; 2024 ESC Guidelines on peripheral arterial and aortic diseases. General guidance, not medical advice.

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Related: Heart attack & coronary heart disease · Heart failure & other heart disease · Stroke

Questions

At what age is high blood pressure & other circulatory disease most likely to be the cause of death?
For men, high blood pressure & other circulatory disease takes its largest share of deaths at 90–94: 8.0% of the risk of dying in the next 10 years, in the median of the 36 countries that publish causes of death by age.
Which country has the highest risk of dying of high blood pressure & other circulatory disease?
Of the 36 countries that publish causes of death by age, Romania has the highest lifetime chance of dying of high blood pressure & other circulatory disease for men (17%), and Malta the lowest (2.6%).
What raises the risk of dying of high blood pressure & other circulatory disease?
In large cohort studies, people who smoke died of it about 2.6 times as often as people who never smoked (Carter 2015).

Computed by Odainn from official mortality statistics (Eurostat; ONS, NRS and NISRA; CDC; Statistics Canada) for 36 countries, latest years — how we calculate. Belarus is left out: deaths by cause and age aren't published together there, so the split by cause is our estimate. Population statistics, not a prediction for any individual. Educational, not medical advice.