Rates of the leading causes of death in Africa in 2021

In 2021, the leading causes of death in Africa were lower respiratory infections, malaria, and stroke. That year, lower respiratory infections resulted in around 65 deaths per 100,000 population in Africa. Leading causes of death in Africa vs the worldWorldwide, the top three leading causes of death in 2021 were heart disease, COVID-19, and stroke. At that time, some of the leading causes of death in Africa, such as lower respiratory infections and stroke, were among the leading causes worldwide, but there were also stark differences in the leading causes of death in Africa compared to the leading causes worldwide. For example, malaria, diarrheal disease, and preterm birth complications were among the top ten leading causes of death in Africa, but not worldwide. Furthermore, HIV/AIDS was the eighth leading cause of death in Africa at that time, but was not among the top ten leading causes worldwide. HIV/AIDS in AfricaAlthough HIV/AIDS impacts every region of the world, Africa is still the region most impacted by this deadly virus. Worldwide, there are around 40 million people currently living with HIV, with about 20.8 million found in Eastern and Southern Africa and 5.1 million in Western and Central Africa. The countries with the highest HIV prevalence worldwide include Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa, with the leading 20 countries by HIV prevalence all found in Africa. However, due in part to improvements in education and awareness, the prevalence of HIV in many African countries has decreased. For example, in Botswana, the prevalence of HIV decreased from 26.1 percent to 16.6 percent in the period from 2000 to 2023.

于2021年，非洲地区死亡的首要原因分别为下呼吸道感染、疟疾及中风。当年，非洲地区下呼吸道感染导致的死亡人数约为每十万人中65人。在全球范围内，2021年死亡的首要原因依次为心脏病、COVID-19及中风。彼时，非洲地区的一些主要死亡原因，如下呼吸道感染及中风，亦为全球范围内的主要死亡原因之一，然而，非洲地区与全球范围内的主要死亡原因亦存在显著差异。例如，疟疾、腹泻病及早产并发症位列非洲地区十大主要死亡原因之中，而全球范围内则不然。此外，HIV/AIDS在当时为非洲地区的第八大死亡原因，但并未跻身全球十大死亡原因之列。
HIV/AIDS在非洲
尽管HIV/AIDS对全球各地区均有影响，非洲地区依然是受此致命病毒影响最为严重的地区。全球范围内，目前约有4000万人感染HIV，其中约有2080万位于东非和南非，510万位于西非和中非。全球HIV感染率最高的国家包括斯威士兰、莱索托及南非，而感染率最高的前20个国家均位于非洲。然而，部分得益于教育及意识的提升，许多非洲国家HIV感染率已有所下降。例如，在博茨瓦纳，HIV感染率自2000年至2023年间从26.1%降至16.6%。