Share of deaths from noncommunicable diseases — all countries

Share of deaths from noncommunicable diseases — Sub-Saharan Africa

Share of deaths from noncommunicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2021 — 34.5%. Since 2000, the indicator has risen by 13.9 pp.

2021 34.5% −1.6 pp vs 2020
World rank
Period maximum 36.1%2020
Period minimum 20.6%2000

Trend over time

2000–2021 · % of total deaths

Share of deaths from noncommunicable diseases — Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–20212025303540200020032006200920122015201820212000: 20.6%2010: 27.7%2015: 32.1%2019: 35.8%2020: 36.1%2021: 34.5%
Change over the period: +13.9 pp Annual average: 0.66 pp

Comparison, 2021

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa 34.5%
World 63.4%
Share of deaths from noncommunicable diseases — Sub-Saharan Africa, by year Sub-Saharan Africa All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2021 34.5 −1.6 pp
2020 36.1 +0.3 pp
2019 35.8
2015 32.1
2010 27.7
2000 20.6

About the indicator

The share of deaths from noncommunicable diseases in the total number of deaths during a year. This group takes in cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and the remaining conditions that do not pass from person to person. The three shares — noncommunicable diseases, infections and injuries — together make up a hundred percent, so they have to be read only together: a rise in one share means a fall in the other two and does not by itself say that people started dying of that cause more often.

Important: There are no aggregates by country group: the correct weight is the total number of deaths, and all we have is the death rate, not the absolute number. A share, not a level: in countries with high life expectancy it is close to 90% because infections have been beaten.

Source: Global Health Observatory (WHO), license CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.