The United States

In 1900, the most common causes of death were infectious diseases which brought death quickly. Today, the most common causes of death are chronic diseases in which a slow and steady decline in health ultimately results in death. How might this impact the way we think of death, how we grieve, and the amount of control a person has over his or her own dying process? 

Below are data from the CDC, from their report on Health in 2016. This information is from table 19  Leading causes of death and numbers of deaths, by sex, race, and Hispanic origin:
United States, 1980 and 2015. You can see the full table here: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2016/019.pdf

[Data are based on death certificates]
1980                                                              2015
Cause of death Deaths                  Cause of death Deaths
All persons
Rank All causes . . . . . …. . 1,989,841          All causes . . . . . . . . … . . . . . 2,712,630
1 Diseases of heart . . . . .. . 761,085         Diseases of heart . . .. . . .. . . 633,842
2 Malignant neoplasms . . . . . 416,509         Malignant neoplasms . . . . . . 595,930
3 Cerebrovascular diseases. . . 170,225  Chronic lower respiratory diseases 1,2 . . . 155,041
4 Unintentional injuries . . .  105,718         Unintentional injuries . . . . .. . 146,571
5 COPD’s …………………. 56,050        Cerebrovascular diseases . . . . . . 140,323
6 Pneumonia and influenza 2 . . 54,619        Alzheimer’s disease . . . . . . . . 110,561
7 Diabetes mellitus . . . . .. . . 34,851        Diabetes mellitus 3 . . . . . . . . . . 79,535
8 Chronic liver disease + cirrhosis. 30,583         Flu and pneumonia 2 . . . . 57,062
9 Atherosclerosis 29,449        Kidney related 3… 49,959
10 Suicide . . . . . . .. . . . 26,869         Suicide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,193

The causes of death above reflect the most common causes for all ages, which means they most resemble the causes for older adults, since older adults have a much higher death rate than other ages. Causes of death are quite different when you look at younger populations. The link below shows common causes of death in the United States broken down into 7 different age categories.

causes of death 1980 and 2015 by age

You can see that even over this relatively short time period leading causes of death shift, as we make medical advances and make lifestyle changes. For example, in 1980, 5510 infants died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In 2015, only 1568 died from SIDS, as we learned more about how to prevent SIDS and spread that information through public service announcements, doctors, etc.

Causes of Death Worldwide

The top 12 causes of death in the world are listed below along with the estimated number of deaths per cause. These figures are for 2002 and do not reflect deaths due to violence or suicide (World Health Organization, World Health Report, 2004). Notice the higher rates of death due to HIV/AIDS, perinatal conditions and diarrheal conditions than is found in the United States. Deaths of infants, young children, young mothers, and men and women in adolescence, young adulthood and midlife are more common. Many of these deaths are due to preventable causes. Ideas about the swiftness and unpredictable nature of death are certainly greater when living under such circumstances.

1. Heart disease (7.2 million)
2. Cerebrovascular disease (5.5 million)
3. Lower respiratory infections (3.9 million)
4. HIV/AIDS (2.8 million)
5. Chronic obstructive pulmonary (2.7 million)
6. Perinatal conditions (2.5 million)
7. Diarrheal diseases (1.8 million)
8. Tuberculosis (1.6 million)
9. Malaria (1.3 million)
10. Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers (1.2 million)
11. Road traffic accidents (1.2 million)
12. Diabetes mellitus (1 million) 

The picture worldwide has changed quite a bit since 2002, just as it has in the U.S.  According to the World Heath Organization (see http://www.who.int/gho/mortality_burden_disease/causes_death/top_10/en/  for a very interesting interactive chart looking at different world regions, ages, and sex), in 2015 the top ten causes of death worldwide were:

1. Heart disease (8.8 million)
2. Stroke (6.2 million)
3. Lower respiratory infections (3.2 million)
4. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (3.2 million)
5. Cancers of trachea, bronchus, lungs (1.7 million)
6. Diabetes (1.6 million)
7. Alzheimers and other dementias (1.5 million)
8. diarrheal diseases (1.4 million)
9. Tuberculosis (1.4 million)
10. road injuries (1.3 million)

A Comparison of Death by Age in the United States:

A comparison of the causes of death in the United States in the year 2007 for people in late adulthood and among all ages is given below.  Notice that 29 percent of all deaths were of people ages 85 and older and that rates of death due to heart disease had declined since 1997, although heart disease is still the leading cause of death.