Cause of death statistics 2023

In 2023, 71 822 members of Switzerland's resident population died. The most common causes of death overall were cardiovascular disease (28%) and cancer (24%), followed by dementia (9%), respiratory disease (7%) and external causes such as accidents and acts of violence (6%). For the first time since 2020, COVID-19 (2%) was no longer one of the five most common causes of death.

In 2023, 35 109 men and 36 713 women died in Switzerland at average ages of 77 and 83 respectively. The age-standardised mortality rate was 473 per 100 000 men and 334 per 100 000 women. In comparison with 2022, the mortality rate fell by 6.1% among men and by 5.1% among women. This means the rate had fallen by 3.1% for men and 5.1% for women compared with 2019, i.e. before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data shows a lower risk of mortality among the Swiss resident population in 2023 than in 2019, which indicates a return to the trend of decreasing mortality rates that had been temporarily disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality rates continue to fall

In 2023, a total of 9359 men and 11 017 women died from the most common cause of death, cardiovascular disease, at an average age of 81 and 87 years respectively. This represents a mortality rate of 118 per 100 000 men and 84 per 100 000 women. In comparison with the previous year, the mortality rate fell by 4.5% among men and by 0.6% among women. Cardiovascular disease is also the most common cause of death among the over 85s (35.5% of deaths in men and 38.7% in women).

A total of 9438 men and 7629 women died of cancer in 2023, both at an average age of 75. Mortality rates fell among both sexes compared with the previous year: by 2.0% among men (131 per 100 000) and by 6.2% among women (89 per 100 000). Cancer was the dominant cause of death among 45‒84 year olds of both sexes. Among men, 34% of all deaths were attributable to cancer, both in the 45‒64 age group and in the 65‒84 age group. Among women, this percentage was 50.3% among 45‒64 year olds and 32.8% among 65‒84 year olds. Among the causes of death related to cancer, the most common cause was lung cancer. It was responsible for 19.1% of cancer deaths in men and 17.4% in women. The second most common cause of death was prostate cancer in men (15.1%) and breast cancer in women (16.8%).

Dementia and respiratory diseases were the third and fourth most common causes of death

In 2023, 2077 men and 4370 women died of dementia. The average age of men who died of dementia was 85 and the average age of women was 88 years. The mortality rate was 24 per 100 000 men and 31 per 100 000 women, i.e. 2.5% and 4.7% lower than in 2022 respectively.

A total of 2434 men and 2305 women died from respiratory disease in 2023. The average ages of men and women who died from a respiratory disease were 80 and 83 respectively. The mortality rate was 31 per 100 000 men and 20 per 100 000 women, which represents an increase of 0.7% for men and 4.1% for women over 2022.

Young people die most frequently from external causes

In 2023, 2451 men and 1839 women died of external causes of death at an average age of 67 and 77 respectively. External causes of death encompass accidents and acts of violence, including suicide. As in previous years, the mortality rate for men (39 per 100 000 men) was around twice as high as for women (20 per 100 000). In 2023, the percentage of people who died of external causes rose by 2.9% among men and by 0.5% among women compared with 2022. External causes were the most common cause of death in the 15‒44 age group, accounting for 49.5% of all deaths in men and 34.2% in women.

Number of suicides and assisted suicides higher than in the previous year

In 2023, 721 men and 274 women died of suicide in Switzerland at average ages of 56 and 52 respectively. Compared with 2022, the suicide rate was 3.1% higher for men (13 in 100 000 men) and 3.9% higher for women (5 in 100 000 women).

As in previous years, assisted suicide increased. In 2023, there were 693 assisted suicides among men and 1036 among women, at average ages of 78 and 80. This is 44 men (+6.8%) and 91 women (+9.6%) more than in 2022.

Two thirds fewer deaths from COVID-19

In 2023, a total of 744 men and 613 women died owing to COVID-19. Mortality rates (9 per 100 000 men and 5 per 100 000 women) fell by more than two thirds compared with 2022, or by 67.9% among men and 69.4% among women.