Cardiovascular diseases (diseases of the circulatory system) are the number one cause of death in Germany, accounting for approximately 33.7% to over 40% of all deaths annually. Within this category, ischaemic heart diseases, such as heart attacks and chronic heart disease, are the most common, followed by strokes.
The country's sick leave policy is one of the most generous in the world. Employees get full pay for the first six weeks they're off, after that their health insurance policy will pay them a large portion of their salary for a further 18 months.
Bulgaria tops the list for the highest number of sick days taken in 2024, with an average of 22.0 days per year. Bulgaria's sick leave policy includes the employer paying 70% of the employee's salary for the first two days.
Germany Leading Cause of death | Top 10 cause of Death in Germany
What is the deadliest country in Europe?
Ukraine is the most dangerous country in Europe
As of 2024, Ukraine tops the GPI ranking. The main factors are the ongoing military conflict in the country, high levels of local instability, and risks associated with military action.
Previous research indicates that the United States has substantially lower life expectancy than most Western European countries. Our results partly support the hypotheses that U.S. excess mortality is to some extent attributable to larger excess mortality at lower education levels.
"Cardiovascular disease is Europe's biggest killer, causing the deaths of approximately 10,000 people every day, according to the World Health Organisation.
Cardiovascular diseases and cancer were the most important contributors to the socioeconomic life expectancy gap in Germany, but other causes such as chronic respiratory diseases were also important.
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in Europe, claiming 1.7 million lives annually, the head of the Therapeutics Area Department at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday.
In a 2020 study the three most common diagnoses for women were heart disease, dementia and cardiovascular diseases. In 2002, the top diagnosis for male patients released from a hospital was heart disease, followed by alcohol-related disorders and hernias.
One such framework is the “Three C's of Grief.” These three components – Challenge, Change, and Connection – offer a way to make sense of the emotional journey and to approach healing in a structured way.
When someone dies, their heart stops and they stop breathing. Within a few minutes, their brain stops functioning and their skin starts to cool. At this point, they have died.
Rabies. Rabies, one of the oldest known infectious diseases, is nearly 100% fatal and continues to cause tens of thousands of human deaths globally (1).
Britain has an older workforce than the US, Australia and New Zealand, with more employees staying in work into their sixties. That brings a higher burden of chronic conditions, from arthritis to cardiovascular disease, which both increase absence and lengthen recovery times, particularly with long NHS waiting lists.
As of July 2025, the monthly minimum wage before deductions in the EU ranged from €551 in Bulgaria, to €2,704 in Luxembourg, according to Eurostat. When EU candidate countries are included, Ukraine has the lowest minimum wage, at just €164.
