Specific causes of death

The majority of deaths are due to a few causes: Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, accidents and other violent deaths, as well as dementia. In 2020 COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death among men and women after cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Main causes of death

2020	Deaths		Mortality rates1
	Men	Women	Men	Women
All causes of death	37 624	38 571	542,7	364,5
Infectious diseases	425	412	6,2	4,0
COVID-19	4 902	4 392	64,8	35,5
Total malignant tumours	9 224	7 706	138,1	96,2
Colon2	600	506	8,9	5,8
Lung	1 850	1 347	28,9	17,9
Breast	10	1305	0,2	17,1
Diabetes mellitus	534	477	7,5	4,1
Dementia	2 135	4 389	26,6	32,2
Cardiovascular diseases	9 568	10 943	130,9	87,3
Total heart disease	7 570	8 333	103,8	64,9
Ischemic heart disease	3 936	2 886	55,1	23,4
Cerebral vascular disease	1 429	2 095	19,0	17,6
Total respiratory diseases	1 983	1 774	27,2	16,5
Alcoholic liver cirrhosis	268	119	4,7	2,1
Accidents and violent deaths	2 178	1 647	38,1	18,9
Accidents	1 347	1 283	21,8	12,0
Suicide	696	276	13,7	5,4

1 age-standardised mortality rate per 100,000 inhabitants
2 ICD-10: C18 Source: CoD

Causes of death by age and sex

The frequency of these causes varies by age. Perinatal causes of death predominate in the first year of life, followed by congenital diseases. Although death from the age of 1 to 14 is uncommon, there are many different causes. The majority of deaths from the age of 15 to roughly 45 are caused by accidents and suicide. After this age, the most common cause of death is cancer. From around the age of 80 this is overtaken by cardiovascular diseases. In addition, in 2020 COVID-19 also showed age-specific distribution. Older people aged 65 and over in particular were more likely to die from COVID-19.

Potential years of life lost

The potential years of life lost (PYLL) are an indication of premature mortality (before the age of 70). Cancer is the leading cause of premature mortality, accounting for 26% of potential years of life lost in men and for 44% women. Accidents and other violent deaths are the second most important causes of premature death among men (26%) and women (18%). Cardiovascular diseases account for 15% of PYLL among men and 9% among women. Premature mortality due to COVID-19 came fourth among men in 2020, accounting for 3% of PYLL, after cancer, external causes and cardiovascular disease. Among women, it came fifth at 2% of PYLL, after cancer, external causes, cardiovascular disease and diseases of the respiratory organs.

Suicide

At a younger age, suicide is a relatively common cause of death when compared with deaths due to illness. Suicide rates continue to increase with age. Suicide is the cause of death in 13 out of 1000 deaths in Switzerland. In 2020, no increase in the suicide rate was observed due to the pandemic. In comparison with the previous years 2018 and 2019, the trend was mostly stable.

Assisted suicide is a different phenomenon. In contrast to suicide, assisted suicide is more common among people aged 65 and above than among younger people. It is usually associated with a serious, incurable illness. Assisted suicide is the cause of death in 16 out of 1000 deaths in Switzerland.

Cause of death by nationality

In 2020, a quarter of the Swiss resident population were foreign nationals (27% of men and 24% of women). This section of the population is considerably younger and therefore has a lower risk of dying. Only around 11% of deaths concern foreign nationals (14% of deceased men and 8% of deceased women).

With regard to cancer and other broad cause of death categories, there were differences between foreign and Swiss nationals. The mortality rate of foreign nationals is at least a third higher than that of Swiss nationals for COVID-19, stomach cancer, AIDS (men, low case numbers), asthma (men, low case numbers), diabetes (women) and for perinatal causes of death. In contrast, the mortality rates for infectious diseases (women), lung cancer (women), pulmonary embolism (men), asthma (women, low case numbers), road traffic accidents (women, low case numbers), congenital malformations, accidents and acts of violence (men), and suicides are at least a third lower among foreign nationals than Swiss nationals.

Provisional results of the Cause of death statistics during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cause of death reporting takes place following coding according to the WHO’s ICD-10 classification system. In accordance with international custom, reporting is done on an annual basis, which allows regional and temporal comparisons to be made. As usual, these statistics will continue to be produced for each year.

In order to produce timely information on causes of death with regard to mortality related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FSO is currently accelerating the coding and publication process.

This means that from the calendar year 2020 onwards, the provisional results of the Cause of Death Statistics will be published continuously, depending on the current coding status. Taking account of COVID-19 as main and accompanying cause, the Cause of Death Statistics will be reported for each individual month. Due to expected late registrations and outstanding data, the results are provisional.

The following tables are published, each by month and sex:
(1) Most important causes of death with COVID-19 as concomitant disease
(2) Deaths with COVID-19 as main cause, with concomitant causes
(3) COVID-19 deaths according to the FSO population database and FOPH reporting system

The tables can be found on the website in German or French.

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