Cancer Number One Killer in 2015, Numbers Show

Cancer was the number one killer among Israelis in 2015, the latest year for which numbers were available, according to a Central Bureau of Statistics report. Cancer was followed by heart disease as the leading cause of death, with death from infectious diseases in third place.

25.1 percent of deaths in 2015 were due to cancer, with 23.5 percent caused by heart and circulatory system issues. 5.7 percent of deaths were due to infectious diseases, with just slightly fewer falling victim to diabetes. 5.5 percent died from stroke. The most common forms of cancer among men were lung and throat cancer (23.9 percent of all cancer deaths), colon cancer (11.1 percent), and pancreatic cancer (9 percent). Among women, women-related cancer was the most common form they succumbed to (20.9 percent), followed by lung cancer (12.5 percent) and colon cancer (10.5 percent).

With that, deaths from cancer, heart disease, and stroke as a percentage of all deaths was lower in Israel than the average in OECD countries. On the other hand, Israelis suffered more deaths than average from diabetes, kidney issues and infectious diseases. Deaths from traffic accidents in the Arab sector were more than double that in the Jewish sector, but among Jews, death from suicide were almost four times greater than among Arabs. Arabs were seven times more likely to be murdered than Jews.

44,266 Israelis – a half percent of the population – died in 2015, the CBS figures showed. 50.4 percent of the niftarim were males, and 49.5 percent were females. 81 percent were over 65 years of age, with 66 percent of those over 75 and 38 percent over 85. 6 percent of the niftarim were age 45 and under, while 4 percent were infants age three and under, lo aleinu.