Heart disease overtakes pneumonia as leading cause of death in 2024
Ischaemic heart disease has overtaken pneumonia as the leading cause of death for Malaysians in 2024, says the statistics department.
Pneumonia was the leading cause of death among Malaysians the year before, claiming 18,181 lives.
The department said a total of 198,992 deaths were reported last year, of which 133,844 were medically certified and 65,148 were not.
This was a significant increase from the 119,652 medically certified deaths recorded in 2023.
Heart disease caused 17,421 deaths, or 13% of medically certified deaths, while pneumonia caused 15,332 deaths, followed by diabetes (6,929) and transport accidents (4,428).
The department said the number of deaths from cancer has been on the rise since 2001, from 5,231 reported that year to 19,180 last year.
The bulk of these cases involve cancer of digestive organs with…
