Cardiovascular disease remains a major global cause of death, with the burden visible in mortality, heart attacks, stroke, risk factors, costs and emergency outcomes. The figures below distinguish global estimates from U.S. observations, surveys and counterfactual projections, with measurement periods and definitions kept explicit.
Key Cardiovascular Disease Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- In 2021, approximately 19.91 million people worldwide died from cardiovascular disease.
- In 2021, stroke caused approximately 7.44 million deaths worldwide.
- In 2021, 931,578 U.S. deaths had cardiovascular disease as the underlying cause.
- In 2023, 919,032 U.S. deaths were attributed to cardiovascular disease.
- In 2023, cardiovascular disease represented approximately one in three U.S. deaths.
- In 2023, heart disease caused 680,909 U.S. deaths and ranked first among causes of death.
- From 2022 to 2023, the U.S. age-adjusted heart-disease death rate fell 3.1%, from 167.2 to 162.1 per 100,000.
- In 2021, coronary heart disease caused 375,476 U.S. deaths.
- Each year, about 805,000 people in the United States have a heart attack, including first and recurrent attacks.
- During August 2021–August 2023, 28.7% of U.S. adults age 20 and older had at least two of four measured cardiovascular risk factors.
- During August 2021–August 2023, men had a 31.7% prevalence of at least two measured risk factors, compared with 25.8% for women.
- Between 2017 and 2020, 127.9 million U.S. adults, or 48.6%, had some form of cardiovascular disease.
- Between 2017 and 2020, cardiovascular disease prevalence was 59.0% among non-Hispanic Black women and 58.9% among non-Hispanic Black men.
- In 2019–2020, average annual U.S. cardiovascular disease costs were $422.3 billion, including direct and indirect costs.
- In 2022, 72.1% of adult U.S. out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurred at home or a residence.
- In 2022, 9.3% of EMS-treated non-traumatic adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases survived to hospital discharge.
Contents
- Global cardiovascular disease deaths and burden
- U.S. cardiovascular disease mortality trends
- Heart attack, coronary disease and stroke data
- U.S. cardiovascular risk-factor statistics
- Cardiovascular disease by age, sex, race and income
- Cardiovascular disease costs, hospital events and outcomes
Global Cardiovascular Disease Statistics: Deaths and Burden
The American Heart Association’s 2024 statistical update estimates that cardiovascular disease accounted for approximately 19.91 million deaths globally in 2021. This global total uses cardiovascular causes as defined in the source data, so it should not be treated as a universal count under every classification system.
The same 2021 global estimates show how stroke contributes to the burden:
- Stroke caused approximately 7.44 million deaths worldwide.
- Ischemic stroke accounted for 3.71 million global deaths.
- Intracerebral hemorrhage accounted for 3.38 million global deaths.
- Subarachnoid hemorrhage accounted for 0.36 million global deaths, a rounded presentation.
These stroke subtype figures are estimates summarized by the AHA and describe stroke deaths rather than all cardiovascular deaths. They should be read as components of the global picture, not as additive substitutes for the broader cardiovascular total. American Heart Association, 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update Fact Sheet
U.S. Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Statistics and Trends
U.S. totals vary with the year and source definition. The AHA reported 931,578 cardiovascular disease deaths in 2021, while the CDC reported 919,032 in 2023 and described cardiovascular disease as representing approximately one in three U.S. deaths in 2023.
| Measure | Period | U.S. result |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiovascular disease deaths | 2021 | 931,578 |
| Cardiovascular disease deaths | 2023 | 919,032 |
| Share of all deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease | 2023 | Approximately 1 in 3 |
| CDC rate-style summary | 2023 | About 1 death every 34 seconds |
The CDC’s “about every 34 seconds” figure is a rate-style conversion, not an individual-risk estimate. The 2021 AHA and 2023 CDC figures should be compared carefully because their periods and update definitions differ. CDC, Heart Disease Facts
Heart disease alone caused 680,909 U.S. deaths in 2023 and ranked as the leading cause of death. The count fell from 702,880 in 2022, while the age-adjusted heart-disease death rate declined 3.1%, from 167.2 to 162.1 per 100,000.
The 2023 age-adjusted rate is not a crude count: it adjusts for age, allowing mortality rates to be compared more consistently across populations and years. CDC/NCHS, Number of Deaths, Percentage of Total Deaths, and Age-Adjusted Death Rate for the 10 Leading Causes of Death in 2023
Heart Attack, Coronary Disease and Stroke Statistics
Coronary heart disease caused 375,476 U.S. deaths in 2021 and represented 40.3% of U.S. cardiovascular deaths attributable to the AHA’s listed cardiovascular categories. Stroke represented 17.5%, high blood pressure 13.4% and heart failure 9.1% within that same grouping.
| U.S. category | Period | Deaths or share |
|---|---|---|
| Coronary heart disease | 2021 | 375,476 deaths; 40.3% of listed CVD deaths |
| Stroke | 2021 | 162,890 deaths; 17.5% of listed CVD deaths |
| High blood pressure | 2021 | 13.4% of listed CVD deaths |
| Heart failure | 2021 | 9.1% of listed CVD deaths |
The CDC estimates that about 805,000 people in the United States have a heart attack each year, including approximately 605,000 first attacks and 200,000 attacks among people with a previous heart attack. About one in five heart attacks are estimated to be silent, meaning the person is unaware of the damage at the time.
The AHA also reports a historical annual incidence estimate of 605,000 new and 200,000 recurrent attacks from 2005–2014; that estimate should not be presented as a current-year incidence rate. In the AHA-cited U.S. data, the average age at a first heart attack was 65.6 years for males and 72.0 years for females, although the fact sheet does not state the source period in that bullet. CDC, Heart Disease Facts American Heart Association, 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update Fact Sheet
From 2011 to 2021, the U.S. coronary heart disease death rate declined 15.0%, while the actual number of coronary heart disease deaths increased 0.05%. Stroke moved differently: its age-adjusted death rate rose 8.4%, and its actual death count increased 26.3% over the same period.
Stroke caused 162,890 U.S. deaths in 2021, with an age-adjusted death rate of 41.1 per 100,000. The contrast between rates and counts shows why both measures are needed when describing long-term cardiovascular trends. American Heart Association, 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update Fact Sheet
U.S. Cardiovascular Disease Risk-Factor Statistics
The CDC’s August 2021–August 2023 NHANES estimates measure four risk factors: uncontrolled high blood pressure, high non-HDL cholesterol, high A1c and body mass index of at least 30. These are measured risk factors, not a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.
| Number of measured risk factors | U.S. adults age 20+, August 2021–August 2023 |
|---|---|
| None | 36.4% |
| One | 34.9% |
| Two or more | 28.7% |
Men had a 31.7% prevalence of two or more measured risk factors, compared with 25.8% for women, a statistically significant difference in the report. The age-adjusted prevalence of two or more rose from 23.7% in 2013–2014 to 28.1% in August 2021–August 2023, while the prevalence of one factor fell from 37.2% in 2017–March 2020 to 33.9% in the later survey period.
By age, the share with no measured risk factors was 53.7% among adults ages 20–39, 29.6% among ages 40–59 and 24.7% among ages 60 and older. The share with one factor was 27.0%, 35.9% and 42.6%, respectively, while the share with two or more was 19.3%, 34.5% and 32.7%.
Income patterns were also reported. Among adults at or above 350% of the federal poverty level, 38.9% had no measured risk factors, compared with 32.9% below 130% of the federal poverty level; 12.8% had missing income information.
The prevalence of two or more factors was 31.3% below 130% of the federal poverty level, 32.6% at 130%–349% and 24.7% at 350% or more. CDC/NCHS, Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023
Cardiovascular Disease Statistics by Age, Sex, Race and Income
Between 2017 and 2020, an estimated 127.9 million U.S. adults, or 48.6%, had some form of cardiovascular disease. This is prevalence of any CVD under the AHA update’s condition definitions, not a count of fatal disease.
The same period showed prevalence of 59.0% among non-Hispanic Black females and 58.9% among non-Hispanic Black males. These category-specific estimates are not interchangeable with the NHANES four-risk-factor measures above because they describe diagnosed or defined cardiovascular disease rather than risk-factor combinations.
About one in six U.S. cardiovascular deaths in 2023 occurred among adults younger than 65. For general mortality context, the 2023 all-cause age-adjusted death rate was 884.2 per 100,000 for males and 632.8 for females, while life expectancy at birth was 75.8 years for males and 81.1 years for females; neither contextual measure is CVD-specific.
The AHA-cited average age at first heart attack was 65.6 years for males and 72.0 years for females, with the source-period caveat noted above. The figures should not be interpreted as a current annual age profile. CDC, Heart Disease Facts CDC/NCHS, Number of Deaths, Percentage of Total Deaths, and Age-Adjusted Death Rate for the 10 Leading Causes of Death in 2023 American Heart Association, 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update Fact Sheet
Cardiovascular Disease Costs, Hospital Events and Survival Outcomes
The AHA estimated average annual U.S. cardiovascular disease costs at $422.3 billion in 2019–2020: $254.3 billion in direct costs and $168.0 billion in lost productivity and mortality. Cardiovascular disease represented 12% of total U.S. health expenditures in that period.
Heart disease, a narrower category, had an estimated average annual direct and indirect cost of $252.2 billion in 2019–2020. Separately, the CDC reported more than $168 billion in heart-disease health-care services and medication costs during 2021–2022; that narrower cost scope should not be added to the AHA total. American Heart Association, 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update Fact Sheet CDC, Heart Disease Facts
For cardiovascular hospitalizations in states with available data, a 2016 Million Hearts analysis found an age-standardized per-capita cost of $125 nationally, ranging from $76 to $294. The age- and event-type-standardized mean cost was $16,274 per hospitalization, ranging from $11,307 to $24,017 across reported states.
The same analysis projected 16.3 million cardiovascular events for 2017–2021 if 2016 event rates remained constant, implying $173.7 billion in hospitalization costs if mean costs also stayed constant. These are counterfactual projections, not observed totals. CDC MMWR, Vital Signs: State-Level Variation in Nonfatal and Fatal Cardiovascular Events Targeted for Prevention by Million Hearts 2022
In 2022, 72.1% of adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurred at home or a residence, compared with 17.3% in public settings and 10.6% in nursing homes. Survival to hospital discharge was 9.3% for EMS-treated non-traumatic adult cases, 14.0% for bystander-witnessed cases and 17.0% for 9-1-1-responder-witnessed cases.
These survival figures apply to defined adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest subsets, not to all cardiovascular disease or to every cardiac arrest. The Million Hearts analysis also reported that non-Hispanic Black people had CVD mortality rates 32% higher than non-Hispanic White people in its cited comparison, with the report linking the disparity partly to uncontrolled blood pressure and using its own CVD mortality definition. American Heart Association, 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update Fact Sheet CDC MMWR, Vital Signs: State-Level Variation in Nonfatal and Fatal Cardiovascular Events Targeted for Prevention by Million Hearts 2022