Deaths by medical end-of-life decision; age, cause of death

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Age Cause of death Total deaths (number) Without end-of-life decision Total without end-of-life decision (number) Without end-of-life decision Sudden and unexpected death (number) Without end-of-life decision Not sudden and unexpected death (number) With end-of-life decision Total with end-of-life decision (number) With end-of-life decision Withhold.medic.treatm.possible hasteni.. (number) With end-of-life decision Intensifying measures, possible hasten.. (number) With end-of-life decision Intensifying measures, partly intendin.. (number) With end-of-life decision Withholding medic.treatm.hastening death (number) With end-of-life decision Explicit intention of hastening death Total explicit intention of hastening .. (number) With end-of-life decision Explicit intention of hastening death Euthanasia (number) With end-of-life decision Explicit intention of hastening death Assisted suicide (number) With end-of-life decision Explicit intention of hastening death Ending of life without explicit request (number)
Total Total causes of death 147,134 61,607 24,542 37,066 85,527 7,437 50,911 1,712 18,213 7,254 6,672 150 431
Congenital anomalies (age zero) 163 30 0 30 133 16 28 10 79 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 398 165 85 81 233 36 68 0 129 0 0 0 0
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 44,155 12,392 1,449 10,943 31,762 1,793 20,747 838 3,735 4,649 4,419 77 153
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 29,679 18,218 10,556 7,662 11,461 1,370 6,402 146 3,206 337 310 17 10
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 12,766 5,497 2,089 3,408 7,269 471 4,266 151 1,904 477 477 0 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 17,211 6,267 1,800 4,467 10,944 1,126 5,959 120 3,053 686 580 7 99
Suicide (>0 years) 1,871 1,831 1,641 190 41 4 0 0 32 5 0 5 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 40,891 17,207 6,922 10,285 23,685 2,621 13,441 448 6,075 1,100 886 45 170
0 year Total causes of death 561 195 85 111 366 52 96 10 208 0 0 0 0
Congenital anomalies (age zero) 163 30 0 30 133 16 28 10 79 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 398 165 85 81 233 36 68 0 129 0 0 0 0
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years)
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0..
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years)
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs)
Suicide (>0 years)
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years)
1 to 16 years Total causes of death 296 153 110 43 143 10 85 10 38 0 0 0 0
Congenital anomalies (age zero)
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero)
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 100 18 0 18 83 0 54 10 19 0 0 0 0
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 7 0 0 0 7 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 4 0 0 0 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 40 20 20 0 20 0 16 0 4 0 0 0 0
Suicide (>0 years) 30 30 28 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 114 85 62 23 29 10 4 0 15 0 0 0 0
17 to 64 years Total causes of death 22,166 11,378 6,577 4,801 10,788 797 6,515 379 1,459 1,638 1,544 13 81
Congenital anomalies (age zero)
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero)
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 10,623 2,945 479 2,465 7,678 353 5,134 241 667 1,283 1,201 13 69
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 2,767 2,342 1,807 535 425 43 222 0 148 12 7 0 5
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 1,453 712 499 213 742 93 364 73 181 31 31 0 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 1,336 521 365 156 814 146 217 0 246 205 205 0 0
Suicide (>0 years) 1,482 1,457 1,300 157 25 4 0 0 21 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 4,506 3,401 2,126 1,275 1,105 159 578 65 196 107 99 0 7
65 to 79 years Total causes of death 44,866 18,611 7,965 10,646 26,255 2,237 14,605 416 5,998 2,999 2,764 86 149
Congenital anomalies (age zero)
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero)
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 19,461 5,697 590 5,107 13,764 817 8,785 283 1,698 2,181 2,091 45 45
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 8,056 5,965 4,471 1,494 2,090 365 833 28 763 101 86 10 5
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 3,906 1,769 871 898 2,138 136 1,242 0 559 201 201 0 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 4,367 1,629 320 1,310 2,739 291 1,319 0 827 302 195 7 99
Suicide (>0 years) 281 265 248 17 16 0 0 0 11 5 0 5 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 8,794 3,286 1,466 1,820 5,507 629 2,425 105 2,139 209 190 19 0
80 years or older Total causes of death 79,245 31,269 9,805 21,464 47,976 4,340 29,610 898 10,511 2,617 2,365 52 201
Congenital anomalies (age zero)
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero)
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 13,971 3,733 380 3,353 10,238 623 6,775 304 1,351 1,185 1,127 19 39
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 18,849 9,911 4,278 5,633 8,938 962 5,340 118 2,294 224 217 7 0
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 7,402 3,016 719 2,298 4,386 243 2,655 79 1,164 245 245 0 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 11,469 4,097 1,095 3,002 7,372 689 4,408 120 1,976 179 179 0 0
Suicide (>0 years) 78 78 65 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 27,477 10,435 3,269 7,166 17,042 1,823 10,433 277 3,725 784 596 26 162
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


The survey of medical end-of-life decisions presents information on medical end-of-life decisions by attending physicians. For this survey, a random sample is taken from death certificates at Statistics Netherlands on persons listed in the Dutch population register who died in the months August to November inclusive of the survey year. The sample is raised to an annual figure.

This table concerns deaths by medical end-of-life decisions, cause of death and age.

Data available from: 2010, 2015 and 2021

Status of the figures:
All data are definite.

Changes as of 26 May 2023:
- Figures for 2021 have been added.
- In 2021, there were 96 deceased persons with unknown 'medical end-of-life'. These were only added to the total. The underlying numbers therefore do not add up to the total.

When will new figures be published?
The survey takes place every five years. In 2020, the survey was postponed by one year due to the high workload in the healthcare sector on account of COVID-19. As a result, there is a one-off six-year interval between 2015 and 2021.

Description topics

Total deaths
Total number of deaths
The weighting for 2021 was done when the final figures had not yet been established. As a result, there are 96 deaths with unknown 'medical end-of-life decision' in 2021. The total matches the figures in other StatLine tables on causes of death. The underlying categories of this survey do not exactly add up to the total for 2021.
Without end-of-life decision
Total without end-of-life decision
Sudden and unexpected death
A person’s sudden and unexpected death which is assumed not to have involved any medical end-of-life decision.
Not sudden and unexpected death
With end-of-life decision
Total with end-of-life decision
Withhold.medic.treatm.possible hasteni..
Withholding or withdrawing medical treatment while taking into account the possible hastening of death
Intensifying measures, possible hasten..
Intensifying measures to alleviate pain or other symptoms while taking into account the possible hastening of death
Intensifying measures, partly intendin..
Intensifying measures to alleviate pain or other symptoms while partly intending the possible hastening of death
Withholding medic.treatm.hastening death
Withholding or withdrawing medical treatment with the explicit intention of hastening death
Explicit intention of hastening death
Administering, supplying, or prescribing drugs with the explicit intention of hastening death, resulting in the patient’s death
Total explicit intention of hastening ..
Total administering, supplying, or prescribing drugs with the explicit intention of hastening death, resulting in the patient’s death
Euthanasia
Assisted suicide
Ending of life without explicit request
Ending of life without explicit patient request