Cardiovascular disease and cancer were most common killers in Switzerland in 2022

Last year, the average age at death in Switzerland was 77 for men, 83 for women. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Some 27.5% of the 74,425 deaths among the resident population last year were due to cardiovascular issues, while cancer was responsible for 23.1%.

As was already the case before the Covid-19 pandemic, dementia was the third-most common cause at 8.8%, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said on Monday. Respiratory diseases (6.1%) and Covid itself (5.5%) were next-most lethal.

Last year, the standardised mortality rate was 504 per 100,000 for men – with an average age at death of 77 – and 352 per 100,000 for women, with an average age of 83.

Cardiovascular diseases accounted for 9,512 deaths (26.1%) among men and 10,951 (28.8%) among women. The standardised rate increased by 0.5% for the former (+398 deaths) and by 1% for the latter (+420 deaths). The average age of men who died from such a disease was 81.4, compared to 87.4 for women.

+ Why Switzerland boasts one of the world’s highest life expectancies

In 2022, 17,220 people died of cancer. The disease proved fatal for 9,310 men, with an average age of 75, and 7,910 women, also with an average age of 75. Compared to 2021, the standardised rate for men decreased by 2.3%, but with 45 more deaths. For women, the rate increased or 2.1% (+295 deaths). The most deadly form was lung cancer.

Last year, 4,114 people died as a result of Covid-19, with an average age of 82 for men and 85 for women. Compared to the previous year, the standardised rate decreased by 34.1% (-949 deaths) for the former and by 33.6% (-894) for the latter. Six deaths were also indicated as being due to side effects of the coronavirus vaccination.

Road traffic accidents caused 233 deaths, 173 of whom were men with an average age of 54, and 60 women with an average age of 53. Here, the standardised mortality rate for men (three per 100,000) was three times higher than for women (one per 100,000). For the latter there was a 71% increase (+17 deaths) and for men a 13% increase (also +17).

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