Cancer remains the leading cause of death in France in 2022. However, it is decreasing slightly. Respiratory diseases, on the other hand, are on the rise, with the exception of Covid.
Cancer still largely in the lead, Covid on the decline. In 2022, cancer remains the leading cause of death in France, causing more than a quarter (25.5%) of deaths. Accidents are also on the rise, while the number of deaths linked to Covid is declining, two years after the start of the pandemic, according to data published this Tuesday, October 8.
In total, 673,190 people lost their lives in France during the year 2022. A figure up slightly compared to the previous year (660,169), but also higher than in 2020 (667,500), two years nevertheless marked by the Covid pandemic.
These conclusions come from two studies carried out by the Department of Research, Studies and Evaluation of Statistics (DREES), the Inserm Center for Epidemiology of Medical Causes of Death (CépiDc-Inserm) and Santé Publique France.
They are based on the national statistics of causes of death produced by Inserm’s CépiDc based on the exhaustive collection and analysis of the medical aspects of death certificates.
Cancer causing a quarter of deaths in 2022
In 2022, cancer alone was responsible for more than a quarter of deaths (25.5%), a particularly high rate.
Over recent years, however, it has followed a slightly decreasing trend, since in 2021, tumors were the cause of 25.7% of deaths. In women, cancer-related mortality remains stable, however.
Overall, deaths linked to cancer concern people with a lower average age than for other causes of death.
A higher rate of stroke and heart attack than expected
After tumors, cardio-neurovascular diseases come in second place, causing 20.8% of deaths. Among these diseases, there are cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), heart failure and even myocardial infarction.
These diseases are the leading cause of death among those over 85 and are increasing among women. Overall, they affect older people than cancers.
The figures recorded in 2022 turn out to be higher than estimated by doctors in their projections, before the health crisis occurred.
Covid now 5th cause of death
Good news, however, regarding Covid, deaths linked to this disease are decreasing, after two years of pandemic. By decreasing by a third, it goes from the third cause of death to the fifth in the space of a year.
“This decline could be largely explained by the achievement of high collective immunity at the national and international level (broad vaccination coverage, less virulence of variants)”, estimate the authors of the studies.
Deaths linked to diseases of the respiratory system, excluding Covid, are on the other hand increasing sharply and are now on par with deaths linked to cardio-neurovascular diseases. In question? Perhaps the two flu epidemics and the strong circulation of several viruses, according to scientists.
The elderly are mainly affected by these conditions, since half of the deaths recorded concern people aged at least 86 years.
Accidents are increasing
Finally, deaths linked to “external causes”, that is to say mainly accidents, are on the rise. They are now reaching the level of diseases of the respiratory system, excluding Covid, or 6.7% of deaths.
Here too, the trend is much higher than that estimated by specialists before the health crisis, a first since 2020. More worrying, the increase is generalized across all age groups, even if it is more marked among those over 85 years old, victims of falls and domestic accidents.
Furthermore, endocrine diseases such as diabetes or hyperthyroidism, as well as diseases of the digestive system are on the increase, reversing the curve of their evolution.
Juliette Desmonceaux and Théophile Magoria
