Conditions and diseases

This section provides information on particular disease types and contains data on some of the main causes of death in the city.

Key facts

Around 4,799 Liverpool residents died in 2023, with cancer (27.1% of all deaths), cardiovascular disease (21.8%) and respiratory disease (14.9%) being the biggest killers.
1,958 people died aged under 75 years, so more than 4 out of 10 of our residents died young.
In Liverpool, premature deaths from causes considered preventable and which could potentially be avoided by public health interventions are 62% higher than expected compared to England.
There have been significant reductions in Liverpool’s mortality rate since the turn of the millennium including a 25% reduction in the number of preventable cancer deaths, and 54% decline in the number of preventable CVD deaths.
Two in five (40%) residents (ages 15+) have at least one morbidity, 21% have at least two morbidities, and 11% have three or more.
There are around 17,963 people in Liverpool who have been diagnosed with cancer; 18,358 people who have coronary heart disease, and 75,259 with hypertension. There are around 18,036 people with chronic respiratory disease and 33,285 people with asthma, approximately 75,730 people have been diagnosed with depression, 8,088 people have been diagnosed with mental health illness, and 3,115 with dementia.
Healthy life expectancy for females in the city is 57.9 years compared with 58.3 years for males, both significantly below the national average at 63.9 years and 63.1 years respectively.