What is the leading cause of death globally?

Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death globally. It occurs when narrowed or blocked coronary arteries reduce blood flow and oxygen delivery to the heart muscle, most often because fatty plaques build up in the artery walls.

The condition is also called coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease. If a plaque ruptures and a clot suddenly blocks an artery, the result can be a myocardial infarction, commonly called a heart attack. Long-term or severe restriction of blood flow can also weaken the heart and contribute to heart failure or dangerous rhythm problems.

The ranking can vary by year and by the way deaths are classified; for example, COVID-19 temporarily shifted global rankings during the pandemic. WHO’s latest global estimates still identify ischemic heart disease as the world’s biggest killer, attributing about 9 million deaths to it in 2021. Stroke is another major cardiovascular cause, but it is a separate condition involving interrupted blood flow to the brain rather than the heart.