Number of registered deaths by leading cause of death, 1981 - 2000

Since 2001, the classification of diseases and causes of death has been based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), 10^th Revision. The disease groups used for ranking causes of death have also been redefined according to the ICD-10, with new categories added. As a result, figures from 2001 onwards may not be directly comparable with those for earlier years, which were compiled using the ICD-9. Therefore, figures prior to 2001 are presented in a separate table.

Number of registered deaths by leading cause of death (based on ICD 9^th Revision) : 1981, 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2000
(Ranking according to the number of registered deaths in 2000)

Cause of death	1981	1991	1998*	1999*	2000*
1. Malignant neoplasms (ICD-9: 140-208)	6586	8832	10691	10977	11222
2. Heart diseases, including hypertensive heart disease (ICD-9: 390-429)	3829	4858	5060	5220	5537
3. Cerebrovascular disease (ICD-9: 430-438)	3252	3009	3297	3491	3553
4. Pneumonia, all forms (ICD-9: 480-486)	2133	1819	3691	2977	3041
5. Injury and poisoning (ICD-9: 800-999)	1943	1810	1910	2053	1906
6. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis (ICD-9: 580-589)	851	1072	1078	1168	1163
7. Diabetes mellitus (ICD-9: 250)	265	271	521	725	830
8. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (ICD-9: 571)	351	375	418	399	487
9. Septicaemia (ICD-9: 038)	215	505	501	412	387
10. Aortic aneurysm (ICD-9: 441)	100	202	361	324	332
Other causes	5453	5929	5152	5641	5535
All causes	24978	28682	32680	33387	33993

Notes :
The figures are based on deaths registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174, Laws of Hong Kong) during the specified period.

The corresponding disease codes are shown in brackets.

* The figures in the table from 1998 onwards are compiled based on the population estimates under the "resident population" approach instead of the "extended de facto" approach.