The share of Indians dying from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes has surged, while deaths from malaria, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, and perinatal conditions have declined. Notably, the share of deaths from fevers of unknown origin has increased over the years. In contrast, the share of deaths due to cancer has remained relatively flat.
Over time, while more and more Indians have been dying from non-communicable diseases, fewer have been dying from communicable diseases. However, this trend reversed during the pandemic, when deaths from COVID-19 surged.
Chart 1 shows the share of Indians who died from communicable and non-communicable diseases and injuries (in %)
The share of men who died from cardiovascular diseases rose from 21.5% in 2004-06 to 32% in 2019-21; and the share of women from 17.8% to 27.7% Chart 2 shows the share of men and women who died from cardiovascular diseases (in %).
Deaths due to diabetes mellitus among men increased from 1.5% to 3.3% over the same period. Among women, the share rose from 1.6% to 4.2% Chart 3 shows the share of men and women who died due to diabetes mellitus (in %).
The share of men and women who died from cancer has remained flat in the range of 6-7% over the years. Chart 4 shows the share of men and women who died due to cancer (in %).
Due to medical interventions, the share of men and women who died due to perinatal conditions (Chart 6), diarrhoeal disease (Chart 7) and tuberculosis (Chart 8) has come down. The share of men and women who died due to perinatal deaths declined from 8% to 2%. For diarrhoea, the corresponding numbers were 6-9% to 2-3%; and for tuberculosis, from 4-6% to 2-3%.
Chart 5 shows the share of men and women who died due to malaria (in %).
Chart 6 shows the share of men and women who died from perinatal conditions (in %).
Chart 7 shows the share of men and women who died from diahorreal conditions (in %).
Chart 8 shows the share of men and women who died from tuberculosis (in %).
The share of people who died from fevers of unknown origin went up from 2% among men to 5%, and from 3% among women to 6.5% (Chart 9).
Chart 9 shows the share of men and women who died from feveer of unknown origin (in %).
Also, the share who died due to ill-defined causes is higher now than it was two decades ago.
Published – May 28, 2025 08:00 am IST