Main causes of preventable mortality across OECD countries 2021

In 2021, among the 2.1 million premature deaths in OECD countries, 22 percent were due to infectious diseases (including COVID-19), while cancer accounted for another 21 percent of all preventable deaths. The OECD defines preventable mortality as causes of death among people aged under 75 years that can be mainly avoided through effective public health and primary prevention interventions (i.e. before the onset of disease/injury, to reduce incidence). Treatable (or amenable) mortality is defined as causes of death that can be mainly avoided through timely and effective health care interventions including secondary prevention and treatment (i.e. after the onset of disease, to reduce case fatality). Different cancers fall under different categories, for example, lung cancer is classified as preventable, whereas breast and colorectal cancers are classified as treatable. The statistic shows the main causes of preventable mortality across OECD countries in 2021.