German Chronic Disease Trends: Rates Down, Numbers Up

The Charité hospital tower block in Berlin
File photo: the Charité hospital tower in Berlin, 2013. Photo: Rolf Heinrich via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Rates down, numbers upUpdated 6 October 2026

Trend summary

  • Germans are less likely to die of heart disease or cancer at any given age than twenty years ago, but because the population is getting older, more people are living with, and dying from, long-term illness.
  • Of the roughly 1.01 million deaths in Germany in 2024, 339,212 (33.7%) were from diseases of the circulatory system and 230,392 (22.9%) from cancer, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
  • Dementia is the fastest-growing major cause: 61,927 deaths in 2024, 4.4% more than in 2023, and the Deutsche Alzheimer Gesellschaft now estimates that about 1.78 million people live with dementia.
  • In the Robert Koch Institute’s (RKI) 2024 health panel, 53.7% of adults said they had a chronic illness or long-lasting health problem; about one adult in ten has diagnosed diabetes.
339,212deaths from circulatory diseases, Germany, 2024 (33.7% of all deaths)
273.5cancer deaths per 100,000 (age-standardised), 2024, down from 322.4 in 2004
61,927dementia deaths, Germany, 2024 (+4.4% on 2023)
53.7%of adults report a chronic illness or long-term health problem, 2024 (RKI)

What the numbers show

Germany’s main source is the cause-of-death statistics (Todesursachenstatistik), a full count of every death certificate coded by the state statistical offices. In its release of 15 October 2025 (in German), Destatis reported about 1.01 million deaths in 2024, 2% fewer than in 2023 and the second fall in a row. Circulatory diseases such as heart attack and stroke caused 339,212 deaths (down 2.6%) and cancer 230,392 (almost unchanged); together they account for 56.5% of all deaths. The leading single causes were chronic ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer for men, and unspecified dementia (37,109 deaths) for women. An RKI analysis found that coronary heart disease was the most common cause of death in 2023 with 119,800 deaths; age-standardised death rates fell by about 3–4% a year between 1998 and 2023, but the decline has flattened since the 2010s. Figures for 2025 are due from Destatis in October 2026.

Cancer shows the same split between rates and counts. Destatis says the number of cancer deaths rose by 10.1% between 2004 and 2024, mainly because of ageing, while the age-standardised rate fell from 322.4 to 273.5 per 100,000 people (Destatis, February 2026, in German). The Centre for Cancer Registry Data (ZfKD) at the RKI estimates about 517,800 new cancer diagnoses in 2023 and says age-standardised cancer death rates have fallen over 25 years by 21% for women and 31% for men (Krebs in Deutschland, December 2025, in German). Life expectancy at birth reached new highs in 2025: 83.6 years for women and 79.1 for men (Destatis, July 2026, in German).

What is driving it

The main driver of rising case numbers is age. Dementia deaths in 2024 were 23.2% above the 2015–2024 average, and 89.1% of those who died of dementia were 80 or older. The Deutsche Alzheimer Gesellschaft (German Alzheimer Society) expects 2.3 to 2.6 million people with dementia by 2050. It also notes that the disease now tends to start later in life, but more people are living to the ages where it is common (DAlzG, September 2026, in German). The RKI’s new burden-of-disease figures measure years of life lost to death or poor health. They rank coronary heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and dementia highest for years lost to early death, while low back pain, headaches, anxiety, diabetes and depression cost the most healthy years.

Risk factors and prevention are the other side. An RKI survey found that about one in five adults aged 35 to 69 has a raised or high ten-year risk of a first heart attack or stroke, and half of those underestimate it (RKI, May 2025, in German), and RKI projections expect the number of people with diagnosed type 2 diabetes to keep rising (RKI, September 2025, in German). Policy has moved on the same lines. The National Decade against Cancer was launched in 2019 and the National Dementia Strategy in 2020. The federal cabinet approved a draft “Healthy Heart Act” in August 2024, and in July 2026 the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) launched a prevention drive meant to make prevention a “load-bearing pillar” of the health system.

Recent cases

  • September 2026: the RKI reports that two years after cancer rehabilitation, 67.2% of patients were back in work, with people on lower incomes less likely to return (RKI, in German).
  • 22 September 2026: the Deutsche Alzheimer Gesellschaft publishes new estimates: about 1.78 million people in Germany live with dementia, with the highest shares in the eastern states (DAlzG, in German).
  • 14 September 2026: the RKI releases national burden-of-disease trends for 2017–2022, showing coronary heart disease, Alzheimer’s and other dementias as the leading causes of lost healthy life in old age (RKI, in German).

Press releases and official reports, 2023–2026

Five key releases a year for the last four years, newest first. Most come from German federal and state government agencies, regulators, accident investigators and national statistics; a few news reports are included where they are the clearest public record of an event. Many official releases are published only in German; for those we give an English translation of the title and mark the link (in German). Releases from 2007–2022 are in the expandable list after 2023.

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View 20 years of major German chronic disease press releases (2007–2026)69 more from 2007–2022, up to five a year, newest first

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Some early years list fewer than five items. Many older German government releases are no longer online at their original addresses, and we only list items we could find and check.

Photo list

German ambulance and emergency doctor vehicle
File photo: an ambulance and emergency doctor car in Germany. Photo: Lnnrt2 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Wrist blood pressure monitor
File photo: a home blood pressure monitor. Photo: Marvelousola01 via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Related on ROR Labs

How this page is built. Figures come from the official statistical releases linked above; where agencies publish provisional numbers we say so, because they are revised. German statistics are often published separately by each federal state (Land) and some only in German, so we say which area and period each figure covers and translate titles. Photos are public-domain or Creative Commons images credited in each caption; file photos are illustrative and are not from the events described unless the caption says so. This page tracks trends and is not personal safety, medical, legal or financial advice.