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

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

Age Cause of death Periods Total deaths (number)
Total Total causes of death 2021 170,972
Total Congenital anomalies (age zero) 2021 155
Total Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 2021 440
Total Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 2021 44,987
Total Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 2021 28,348
Total Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 2021 10,328
Total Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 2021 17,167
Total Suicide (>0 years) 2021 1,860
Total Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 2021 67,590
0 year Total causes of death 2021 595
0 year Congenital anomalies (age zero) 2021 155
0 year Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 2021 440
0 year Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 2021
0 year Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 2021
0 year Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 2021
0 year Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 2021
0 year Suicide (>0 years) 2021
0 year Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 2021
1 to 16 years Total causes of death 2021 278
1 to 16 years Congenital anomalies (age zero) 2021
1 to 16 years Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 2021
1 to 16 years Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 2021 31
1 to 16 years Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 2021 0
1 to 16 years Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 2021 17
1 to 16 years Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 2021 33
1 to 16 years Suicide (>0 years) 2021 20
1 to 16 years Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 2021 178
17 to 64 years Total causes of death 2021 22,721
17 to 64 years Congenital anomalies (age zero) 2021
17 to 64 years Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 2021
17 to 64 years Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 2021 8,964
17 to 64 years Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 2021 3,507
17 to 64 years Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 2021 1,190
17 to 64 years Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 2021 1,194
17 to 64 years Suicide (>0 years) 2021 1,276
17 to 64 years Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 2021 6,590
65 to 79 years Total causes of death 2021 54,916
65 to 79 years Congenital anomalies (age zero) 2021
65 to 79 years Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 2021
65 to 79 years Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 2021 21,191
65 to 79 years Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 2021 8,817
65 to 79 years Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 2021 3,469
65 to 79 years Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 2021 3,951
65 to 79 years Suicide (>0 years) 2021 417
65 to 79 years Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 2021 17,070
80 years or older Total causes of death 2021 92,366
80 years or older Congenital anomalies (age zero) 2021
80 years or older Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 2021
80 years or older Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 2021 14,802
80 years or older Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 2021 16,024
80 years or older Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 2021 5,651
80 years or older Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 2021 11,990
80 years or older Suicide (>0 years) 2021 147
80 years or older Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 2021 43,753
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.