Latvia has a high rate of deaths from circulatory disease

In 2023, there were 4.84 million deaths among EU residents, mostly caused by circulatory diseases (1.59 million; 32.8% of all deaths), cancer (1.16 million; 23.9%) and respiratory diseases (0.38 million; 7.8%). 

Other leading causes of death included external causes of morbidity and mortality (0.24 million; 5.0%), diseases of the digestive system (0.21 million; 4.4%), mental and behavioural disorders (0.21 million; 4.3%), diseases of the nervous system (0.21 million; 4.3%), endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (0.17 million; 3.5%) and COVID-19 (0.10 million; 2.1%). 

Among European Union countries, Latvia has the third-highest rate of deaths from circulatory diseases, behind Bulgaria and Romania, at 787 deaths per 100,000 of population. The rate for cancer is 277 deaths and for respiratory diseases it is 46.

At the EU level, there were 313 deaths from circulatory diseases per 100 000 people in 2023 – meaning Latvia's rate was more than double the EU average.