Cancer deaths may soon surpass deaths from cardiovascular disease, Statistics Canada said Friday in its report on mortality rates.

The two diseases, combined, caused about six out of every 10 deaths in 2004, the department's health statistics division said in a report called Mortality, Summary of Causes 2004.

Cancer may soon catch up with and eventually surpass cardiovascular diseases as the main cause of death in Canada.
(Statistics Canada)

Both causes of death have been declining over the past 25 years in terms of overall mortality rates, but the proportion of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease has been falling while the proportion of deaths attributed to cancer has been on the rise.

In 1979, cardiovascular diseases were responsible for 47 per cent of all deaths in Canada, but by 2004 this percentage had declined to 32 per cent.

The opposite occurred for cancer, Canada's second main cause of death. In 1979, cancer accounted for 23 per cent of all deaths in Canada, but rose to 30 per cent by 2004.

"The impact of these opposing trends is that the share of deaths due to cancer may soon catch up with, and eventually surpass, the share of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases," the report said. 

In 2004, 66,947 people died from cancer, up 6.8 per cent from 2000.

In contrast, 72,338 died from cardiovascular diseases, a 4.9 per cent decline from 2000.

Between 2000 and 2004, male deaths from cardiovascular disease declined at a slightly faster rate, (-5.5 per cent) than female deaths (-4.3 per cent).

Female deaths from cancer increased at a slightly faster rate (8.5 per cent) than male deaths (5.4 per cent) over the five-year period.

By 2004, the age-standardized mortality rate for cardiovascular diseases and cancer converged at around 175 deaths for every 100,000 people.

The age-standardized mortality rate adjusts for the impact of population aging on death rates.