INFOGRAPHICS. Cancers and cardio-neurovascular diseases, leading causes of mortality in France in 2022

According to two studies by Drees and Public Health France published Tuesday, tumors accounted for around a quarter of deaths, ahead of cardio-neurovascular diseases.

Cancers and cardio-neurovascular diseases were the leading causes of mortality in France in 2022, according to two studies from the Department of Research, Studies and Evaluation of Statistics (Drees) and Public Health France, based on the national statistics on causes of death produced by the Inserm Center for Epidemiology of Medical Causes of Death (CépiDc-Inserm).

According to these studies, published Tuesday October 8, tumors (cancers) are the leading cause of mortality in 2022. They account for a quarter of deaths in France (25.5%). These cancer-related deaths concern people on average younger than all deaths from all causes, specifies the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm).

Second cause of mortality in 2022, cardio-neurovascular diseases were the cause of 20.8% of deaths, or 140,173 people. They generally concern elderly people. It is the most common cause in people over 85 (25.8% of deaths). Between 2021 and 2022, mortality due to cardio-neurovascular diseases increases slightly among women, while it remains stable among men, notes Inserm.

The two studies also reveal that there have been fewer deaths due to Covid-19 in 2022 in France than in the past. The number of deaths due to coronavirus decreased by almost a third in 2022 compared to 2021 (-28.2%). 9.2% of deaths were attributable to Covid-19 in 2021, or 60,895 people. In 2022, it will only represent 6.1% of deaths, or 41,291 people. That year, Covid-19 became the fifth cause of death in France.

On the other hand, deaths due to diseases of the respiratory system (excluding Covid-19) increased significantly in 2022 compared to 2021 (+24%). These diseases account for 6.7% of deaths (45,071 people) and are the 3rd cause of death in France. According to studies, this increase is explained by the two seasonal flu epidemics 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 and the active circulation of other respiratory viruses.

Mortality due to accidents is also increasing, particularly among the elderly. These accidents (transport accidents, accidental falls, drownings, accidental poisoning in particular) caused the death of 44,800 people, or 6.7% of deaths.

Finally, Inserm notes that the share of deaths in public health establishments continued to decrease in 2022, while those in accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) and at home increased. In 2022, 673,190 people died in France, a higher number than in 2020 (667,497 deaths) and 2021 (660,168), two years strongly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.