Premature mortality from non-communicable diseases (Indicator 1)

This indicator is part of Target (1): 33 per cent reduction in overall mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease.  

For sufferers of diabetes or chronic respiratory disease, the cause of death is often stated as cardiovascular disease or cancer, so the significance of these two types of disease may be underestimated when the Cause of Death Registry is used as a source. The combination of these four diseases as cause of death is however a good indicator.

Results

The proportion of adults dying prematurely (defined here as death between ages 30 and 69) from NCDs has declined during the period 2015-2023 from 212 to 169 deaths per 100 000 population. The decline is seen for both sexes. A higher proportion of men than women die early from non-communicable diseases. This is mainly due to higher mortality from cardiovascular diseases in men. This is shown by data from the Cause of Death Registry, see Figures 1, 2 and 3.

Read more in the Public Health Report (in Norwegian): 

• Cancer in Norway 
• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes
• COPD 

Data source: Norwegian Cause of Death Registry 

The data source for this indicator is the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. A description and definitions follow below.

Description 

The cause of death statistics are compiled on the basis of death certificates completed by public sector doctors. In addition, information is obtained from the Norwegian Cancer Registry, the Medical Birth Registry, hospital autopsy results and forensic examinations.

• Cause of Death Registry

The following ICD-10 diagnosis codes are included: Cancer C00-C97, cardiovascular disease I00-I99, diabetes E10-E14, COPD/emphysema/asthma/chronic bronchitis J40-J47.

Effect measure

Number of deaths per 100 000 population, age-standardised.

Standardised values are recommended when looking at trends over time. The purpose of standardisation is to reduce the effect of different age compositions when comparing groups in time and space. The method employed is direct standardisation with a fixed standard population taken as the reference population. The European standard population in 2013 is used as the standard population (ESP 2013, Eurostat)

Data quality

The data quality is deemed to be generally good. However, the number of autopsies being performed is declining steadily, making quality assurance of diagnoses difficult. 

National adaptation to global indicators

WHO’s definition:

Indicator 1. Unconditional probability of dying between ages of 30 and 70 from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases, total mortality. 

National adaptation:

National data from the Cause of Death Registry is reported annually to Eurostat from where WHO will obtain the figures. WHO processes the data, using a life table method and its own standard population, presenting probability of dying.  

The national mortality data are here presented as mortality rates per 100 000 person years in line with other national databanks, and are age-standardised using the European standard population defined by Eurostat. 

Due to different processing methods, there may be some divergence between the data presented above and the data presented by WHO.