With 1000.07 deaths from heart attacks per million inhabitants, Cyprus had the 10th lowest rate in the EU28 and below the EU28 average of 1,190 deaths, according to figures released by Eurostat.
Among the 5.1 million deaths reported in the European Union in 2016, over 609,000 were due to coronary diseases, which include heart attacks. Nearly 90% of these deaths concerned people aged over 65 (532,400 deaths, 87% of the EU total).
In Cyprus in 2016 there were a total of 5470 deaths of which 613 were due to coronary heart disease (418 men and 195 women).
To compare countries, the absolute numbers of deaths across Member States need to be adjusted to the size and structure of the population, Eurostat said.
At EU level, the rate of deaths from coronary heart diseases stood at 1,190 deaths per million inhabitants in 2016. This was a decrease of 14% from 1,390 deaths per million inhabitants in 2011.
Men died more often from coronary heart diseases than women, with 1,620 deaths per million men compared to 870 deaths per million women. In Cyprus the rate was 1460 per million men and 612 per million women.
Death rate from coronary heart diseases highest in Lithuania, lowest in FranceÂ
With 5,610 deaths from heart attacks per million inhabitants, Lithuania registered the highest rate among the EU Member States in 2016. It was followed by Latvia (4,000 deaths per million inhabitants) and Hungary (3,670).
At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest rates were recorded in France (470 per million inhabitants), the Netherlands (580) and Spain (640).
In every EU Member State, the standardised rate of men dying from coronary heart diseases was higher than for women. Among the EU Member States, Lithuania recorded the highest gender gap with 2,950 more male than female deaths per million inhabitants from heart attacks. Lithuania was followed by Latvia (gap of 2,650 deaths per million inhabitants) and Estonia (1,740).
This news item marks World Heart Day (September 29).
The source data can be found in Eurostat dataset hlth_cd_aro (numbers) and hlth_cd_asdr2 (rate).
