Cancer Revealed as Leading Cause of Death in Luxembourg

Luxembourg's Ministry of Health has reported that cancer was the leading cause of death in the Grand Duchy in 2021.

In 2021, the Health Directorate recorded 4,338 deaths in Luxembourg in its cause of death register, i.e. 101 fewer deaths than the previous year. The ratio between women (2,132 deaths) and men (2,206 deaths) remained balanced. The average age of death was 75 years for men and 81 years for women. The cause of death register also recorded 64 stillbirths in 2021 (66 in 2020) which are not included in the total deaths.

On average, twelve people died per day, or 83 per week and 362 per month in 2021. The highest number of deaths was recorded in January (429 deaths), whilst the lowest was recorded in August (292 deaths).

According to the Ministry of Health, 94.5% of all deaths in Luxembourg in 2021 were due to diseases and 5.5% were attributable to external causes. More than half of all deaths took place in hospital (53.8%), more than a quarter in retirement homes (25.3%), 18.9% at home and 2.0% elsewhere.

Cancer was the leading cause of death, ahead of circulatory diseases; together, these two causes represented 49.4% of all deaths in Luxembourg (48.3% in 2020, 55.2% in 2019 and 66.0% in 2009). Cancer accounted for 1,098 deaths (480 women and 618 men), i.e. 25.3% of all deaths (1,055 deaths in 2020, or 23.6%).

Lung cancer was the leading cause of death among men, accounting for 135 deaths in 2021, followed by prostate cancer (68 deaths) and colon cancer (52 deaths). Breast cancer was the leading cause among women, accounting for 89 deaths, followed by lung cancer (73 deaths) and pancreatic cancer (35 deaths).

Circulatory diseases accounted for 1,046 deaths (540 women and 506 men), i.e. 24.1% of all deaths in 2021 (1,086 deaths in 2020, or 24.5%).

As was the case one year earlier, COVID-19 remained the third leading cause of death in Luxembourg in 2021, accounting for 437 deaths (233 men and 204 women), i.e. 10.1% of all deaths.

The other leading causes of death in Luxembourg in 2021 each represented less than 10% of all deaths: respiratory diseases accounted for 6.9% of deaths (7.3% in 2020), mental and behavioral disorders accounted for 6.9% of deaths (6.3% in 2020) and external causes (accidents, suicides and others) accounted for 5.5% of deaths (5.8% in 2020).