Key findings: P0309.3 – Mortality and causes of death
in South Africa, 2024: Findings from death notifications
This report provides information on levels, trends and patterns in
mortality and cause of death by socio-demographic and geographic
characteristics. The mortality and cause of death indicators presented in this
report are critical for measuring the health status of the South African
population. The main focus of this report is on 2024 death occurrences,
however, information on deaths that occurred during the period 2003 to 2023 is
included to show trends.
The total number of deaths recorded for 2024 was 474 366. The proportion
of male to female deaths was almost the same from infancy until age group 15–19
after which there were more male deaths than female deaths. The highest number
of deaths amongst females were aged 70-74 (9,5%) and for males it was those
aged 60-64 at 9,2%. The lowest number was observed among those aged 5–9 for
both sexes 5–9 at 0,6% for males and 0,5% for females.
Geographic distribution of deaths by province of death occurrence show
that the highest proportion of deaths (21,2%) occurred in Gauteng province,
followed by KwaZulu-Natal (18,8%) and then Eastern Cape (16,3%). The lowest
proportion of deaths occurred in Northern Cape (3,1%). The highest proportion
of deaths occurred hospitals (40,6%) followed by deaths occurring at home (23,3%).
The top three causes of death in 2024 were due to non-communicable
diseases, with diabetes accounting for 6,1% deaths, followed by hypertensive
diseases and cerebrovascular diseases at 5,5% and 5,4% respectively. Tuberculosis
was the leading cause of death amongst males accounting for 4,8 male deaths
while diabetes mellitus was the leading cause of death amongst females
responsible for 7,9% deaths.
Looking at leading causes of deaths by age groups, influenza and
pneumonia were in the top ten leading causes of death for all age groups. Other
forms of heart diseases were part of the ten underlying causes of death in all
age groups, except for infants. Intestinal infectious diseases were among the
ten leading underlying causes of death for children, accounting for 6,2% of
infant deaths and 6,5% of deaths to children aged 1–14 years. The leading
underlying cause of death for infants (age 0) was respiratory and
cardiovascular disorders specific to the perinatal period, responsible for 15,5%
of deaths. Influenza and pneumonia were the leading underlying cause of death
for age group 1–14 years, accounting for 7,9% of deaths while human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), was the leading underlying cause of death among
those aged 15–44 accounting for 12,0% deaths. For age group 45–64 years,
diabetes mellitus was the leading cause of death responsible for 7,9% deaths
and finally hypertensive diseases were the leading cause of death for those
aged 65 years and older at 9,6%. KwaZulu-Natal (14,6%) had the highest
proportion of deaths due to non-natural causes followed closely by Gauteng (14,2%).
Within non-natural causes, Western Cape had the highest proportion of deaths
due to assault (17,5%) and Limpopo had the highest proportion of transport
accidents (20,1%).