Causes of Death in Florida

The table below provides an overview of the major causes of death in Florida and compares Florida's ranking to the national rankings. Within the state, and nationally, the top two causes of death are heart disease and cancer, both of which are closely linked to the use of tobacco products and unhealthy lifestyles, which include poor diet, lack of physical activity, and alcohol abuse. In Florida, heart disease and cancer are responsible for 48.4% of all deaths. Table below shows many similarities between Florida and the nation in causes of death. A key aspect of Florida's population which is fundamentally different from most states is the number of residents age 65 and older. Florida has the highest percentage of total population age 65 and older in the country, accounting for nearly 19%. The leading causes of death for this age group are heart disease, cancer, lower respiratory diseases, and stroke.

*2007 Data - Preliminary data for the leading ten causes of death for 2008 show the same rankings except that Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease is ranked 3^rd and Stroke is ranked 4^th.
**The 15^th highest cause of death in 2008 was HIV, accounting for 1,412 deaths in Florida.

Sources: http://www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr59/nvsr59_02.pdf, Page 55
http://www.helppromotehope.com/documents/Leading_Causes_of_Death_FL_2006-2008.pdf