Spain's Cancer Deaths Overtake Heart Disease as Leading Cause in 2025

In 2025 Spain recorded 441,270 deaths, a mortality rate of 894.1 per 100,000 people. Cancer accounted for 26.3% of all deaths, becoming the leading cause, while cardiovascular diseases caused 25.7%, remaining the second. Lung cancer was the most lethal tumour with 23,479 deaths, followed by colon (10,610) and breast cancer (6,839). Respiratory diseases rose 9% year‑on‑year, making them the third leading cause; pneumonia alone increased 8.5%.

In Andalusia, the pattern is similar but with a slight shift. Cardiovascular diseases were responsible for 27% of the 74,457 deaths, marginally ahead of cancer at 26.15%. Lung cancer again led cancer deaths with 3,800 fatalities. The region also faced a continued demographic decline: 60,038 births versus 74,457 deaths, extending an eight‑year stretch of negative natural growth. The ageing population concentrates mortality among those over 80, with the highest death counts in the 85‑89 age group.

These figures underscore a public‑health transition in Spain, where chronic non‑communicable diseases now dominate mortality and an ageing society intensifies pressure on health and social‑care systems.