Ischaemic heart disease accounted for nearly 22 percent of all registered deaths in the Philippines in the first four months of 2026, remaining the country’s leading cause of death, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
The agency recorded 39,842 deaths from the disease out of 182,113 deaths registered nationwide from January until April.
Combined, ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, other heart diseases and hypertensive diseases accounted for 72,195 deaths, or nearly four in every 10 deaths registered during the period.
Neoplasms, which include cancers, ranked second with 19,304 deaths, followed by cerebrovascular diseases, including strokes, with 16,865.
Pneumonia accounted for 14,348 deaths, while hypertensive diseases claimed another 9,732 lives, ranking fourth and fifth, respectively.
Diabetes mellitus ranked sixth with 9,681 deaths, followed by chronic lower respiratory diseases with 6,382 and respiratory tuberculosis with 5,105.
Meanwhile, the PSA also recorded 372,953 registered births and 82,282 registered marriages nationwide during the same period.
CALABARZON recorded the largest shares of both events, with 53,177 births, equivalent to 14.3 percent of the national total, and 14,162 marriages, accounting for 17.2 percent.
In Metro Manila, the agency recorded 38,100 births, 22,489 deaths and 10,645 marriages in four months.
The figures cover vital events registered with city and municipal civil registrars nationwide and processed by the PSA as of Aug. 31.
Deaths of Filipinos that occurred abroad are excluded, while the reported figures have not been adjusted for under registration.