In the European Union (EU) in 2013, heart attacks and strokes were the cause of death for almost 1.1 million people, accounting for slightly more than one in five deaths, according to data issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, on Wednesday.

However, the share of both fatal heart attacks and fatal strokes has continuously decreased in the EU, from being responsible for 16.6 percent and 11.5 percent respectively of all deaths in 2000, to 12.9 percent and 8.7 percent in 2013, said Eurostat.

The risk of dying from a heart attack or a stroke clearly increases with age, with heart attacks and strokes being responsible for less than 10 percent of all deaths among people aged below 40 in the EU, between 10 percent and 20 percent for those aged 40 to 69 and over 20 percent for the older age groups.

Meanwhile, more than a third of all deaths were due to heart attacks in Lithuania and more than a quarter in Latvia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

In contrast, heart attacks accounted for less than 10 percent of all causes of deaths in France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain and Luxembourg.

Regarding deaths from strokes, the highest proportions were registered in 2013 in Bulgaria, Romania and Latvia, followed by Croatia and Lithuania as well as Greece.

At the opposite end of the scale, France, Denmark, Belgium and Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Austria as well as the Netherlands recorded shares below 7 percent. Enditem

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