PSA: Ischemic heart disease still leading cause of death in PH in 2025

Ischaemic heart diseases, which affect the flow of blood and oxygen to other parts of the body, remained as the leading cause of death in the Philippines in 2025, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

According to PSA's provisional report released this week, ischaemic heart diseases accounted for 19.7% of the causes of death with 111,896 cases.

The United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines ischaemic heart disease as a condition where the heart muscle has an inadequate blood supply, which reduces blood flow.

It is most commonly caused by a buildup of fatty plaques in the coronary arteries, which restricts blood supply to the heart.

The PSA report also showed that neoplasms caused 64,864 deaths in 2025, making it the second leading cause of death in the country, with 11.4%.

According to NIH, a neoplasm is an abnormal mass of tissue that forms when cells grow and divide more than they should or do not die when they should.

The third leading cause of death in the country is cerebrovascular diseases, with 55,756 recorded cases comprising 9.8% of all deaths.

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons said cerebrovascular disease includes stroke, carotid stenosis, vertebral stenosis and intracranial stenosis, aneurysms, and vascular malformations.

The PSA said the Top 3 causes of death in the Philippines remained consistent with the rankings in the same period in 2024.

Meanwhile, pneumonia emerged as the fourth leading cause of death with 38,607 cases (6.8%), while diabetes mellitus ranked fifth with 34,611 deaths (6.1%).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that is most commonly caused by viruses or bacteria.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by high blood sugar (glucose) levels, the WHO said.

The PSA said the information presented covers deaths that occurred in the Philippines from January to November 2025, based on data processed as of March 31, 2026.

It added that it may differ from the final report to be released in January 2027.

"Data on deaths of Filipinos that occurred abroad are not included in this release, while data on deaths of Filipinos whose usual residence is abroad and of foreign nationals, whose deaths occurred in the country during the reference period, are included," PSA said. — VDV, GMA News