In Vietnam, stroke deaths more than double in 4 years

The report on analysis of causes of death in Vietnam in the 2021-25 period was jointly published by the National Statistics Office, the United Nations Population Fund, and Vital Strategies.

It found that diseases of the circulatory system caused 179,800 deaths during the five-year period, accounting for nearly 9.9 percent of all deaths due to illnesses.

Circulatory system diseases include conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels, such as stroke, chronic cor pulmonale, heart attack, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, complicated hypertension, and cerebrovascular diseases. They are a major cause of death and often making up a substantial proportion of overall mortality.

Stroke was the leading cause of death within this category, accounting for 109,400 cases, or 60.8 percent of all circulatory disease deaths.

The report also showed that both the number of deaths from circulatory system diseases and their share of total illness-related fatalities rose between 2021 and 2025.

In 2021, circulatory diseases caused 29,700 deaths, constituting 7.7 percent of all deaths due to illnesses.

By 2025, the figure had risen to 47,300, representing 15.4 percent.

Ischemic heart disease, including heart attacks, ranked second among circulatory causes of death, with 33,700 cases over the five-year period.

Annual deaths from these conditions fell from 7,236 in 2022 to 5,564 in 2024 before rising again to 7,659 in 2025.

Hypertension-related deaths, including cases involving heart failure, totaled 4,915 during the period. The annual number increased from 682 in 2021 to 1,409 in 2025, more than doubling.

Although myocarditis and chronic cor pulmonale accounted for relatively small shares of circulatory disease deaths, their figures also fluctuated. A total of 687 deaths from these two conditions were recorded in 2025.

An age-based analysis found that deaths from stroke and other circulatory diseases generally increased with age.

However, stroke-related deaths tended to occur at younger ages than fatalities from other circulatory conditions.

Among people under 30, mortality rates from both categories were very low. The rates began rising rapidly among those aged 30-34 and continued soaring through the 50-54 age group.

For stroke, the proportion rose from two percent to 9.5 percent, while the figure for other circulatory diseases increased from 2.3 percent to 7.3 percent.

Among people aged 60-69, the proportions of deaths attributed to stroke and other circulatory diseases were both relatively high, at approximately 12-14 percent.

The proportions declined among those aged 70-79 before inching up again in the group aged 80 and older. In the oldest age group, stroke accounted for 11.9 percent, while other circulatory diseases represented 18.2 percent.

The report also identified a substantial gender gap in stroke mortality.

Of the 109,400 stroke-related deaths recorded between 2021 and 2025, men accounted for 69.2 percent, more than twice the proportion of women (30.8 percent).

The disparity was particularly pronounced among people aged 25-49.

Among those aged 25-29, 1,004 men died from strokes, compared with 175 women, a ratio of 5.7 to one.

In the 35-39 age group, male stroke deaths totaled 3,088, more than six times the 496 cases recorded among women.

From age 50 onward, stroke deaths increased among both men and women. Men continued to account for more deaths, although the gap gradually narrowed in older age groups.

Among people aged 75-79, 4,761 men and 4,096 women died from strokes.

However, in the group aged 80 and older, female deaths outnumbered male deaths, at 7,168 compared with 5,824.

The figures highlight stroke's substantial contribution to circulatory disease mortality in Vietnam, as well as marked differences in death patterns by age and gender.