Out of of a global total of 52.2 million deaths, 17.3 million were due to infectious and parasitic diseases; 15.3 million were due to circulatory diseases; 6.2 million were due to cancer; 2.9 million were due to respiratory diseases and 3.6 million were due to perinatal conditions. The leading causes of deaths from infectious diseases were acute lower respiratory infections (3.7 million), tuberculosis (2.9 million) and malaria (1.5-2.7 million).



