The 10 leading causes of death every Filipino should know

Non-communicable diseases account for the vast majority of deaths in the country. 

Heart disease, cancer, and stroke continue to dominate as the leading causes of death among Filipinos, according to the latest provisional data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), highlighting the growing burden of non-communicable diseases in the country.

The PSA reported that ischemic heart diseases remained the country’s deadliest illness in 2025, claiming 122,339 lives or 19.7% of all recorded deaths nationwide. The condition, which includes heart attacks caused by blocked arteries, has consistently ranked as the Philippines’ leading cause of mortality.

Cancer ranked second with 70,668 deaths or 11.4% of the total, followed by cerebrovascular diseases or stroke, which accounted for 60,947 deaths or 9.8%.

Pneumonia remained the deadliest infectious disease in the country, causing 43,106 deaths or 6.9% of the total, while diabetes mellitus rounded out the top five with 37,978 fatalities or 6.1%.

According to the PSA, the 10 leading causes of death by disease in the Philippines are:

1. Ischemic heart diseases
2. Neoplasms (cancers)
3. Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke)
4. Pneumonia
5. Diabetes mellitus
6. Hypertensive diseases
7. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
8. Respiratory tuberculosis
9. Kidney diseases (nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis)
10. Other heart diseases

The figures show that non-communicable diseases account for the vast majority of deaths in the country. Heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, chronic respiratory illnesses, kidney disease, and other heart conditions collectively claim far more lives than infectious diseases.

Health experts have long associated many of these illnesses with preventable risk factors such as smoking, unhealthy diets, excessive salt intake, obesity, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption, and poorly controlled blood pressure and blood sugar. Meanwhile, pneumonia and tuberculosis continue to pose major public health challenges, particularly among older adults, people with weakened immune systems, and communities with limited access to healthcare.

The PSA said the 2025 figures remain provisional, based on registered deaths processed as of April 30, 2026. The agency is expected to release the final cause-of-death statistics in January 2027.

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