Cancer becomes UK’s deadliest disease as Scotland has highest mortality rate
Cancer is now the most dangerous disease in the UK, overtaking circulatory diseases as the condition with the highest mortality rate.
This is due to a rapid decrease in the mortality rate of people suffering from circulatory diseases, which includes heart disease and strokes. This has fallen by 42 percent over the last 10 years.
According to a report by the Office of National Statistics, cancer was the most common disease group in 2013 for both men and women.
It is now the most common cause of death, replacing circulatory diseases in 2010.
In 2013, cancer killed 353 men and 243 women per 100,000 people.
The UK's mortality rate stood at 1,002 people per 100,000 in 2013. Men had a higher mortality rate than women, at 1,183 compared with 865.
This gap is, however, closing. Since 1983, there has been a decline in the mortality rate of 45 per cent for males and 36 per cent for females.
There is also a big difference between the different countries in the UK. Scotland had the highest mortality rate, at 1,354 deaths per 100,000 men and 1,005 deaths per 100,000 women. England has the lowest mortality rate of all constituent countries, with 177 fewer deaths per 100,000 people.
Again, this disproportionate mortality rate between England and Scotland has narrowed since 1983 – by 40 deaths per year in men and 19 deaths per women in women.
Overall, the total number of deaths in 2013 was 576,458 – a 13 per cent reduction from 1983.