Deaths by medical end-of-life decision; age, cause of death

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Age Cause of death Total deaths (number) Without end-of-life decision Total without end-of-life decision (number) Without end-of-life decision Sudden and unexpected death (number) Without end-of-life decision Not sudden and unexpected death (number) With end-of-life decision Total with end-of-life decision (number) With end-of-life decision Withhold.medic.treatm.possible hasteni.. (number) With end-of-life decision Intensifying measures, possible hasten.. (number) With end-of-life decision Intensifying measures, partly intendin.. (number) With end-of-life decision Withholding medic.treatm.hastening death (number) With end-of-life decision Explicit intention of hastening death Total explicit intention of hastening .. (number) With end-of-life decision Explicit intention of hastening death Euthanasia (number) With end-of-life decision Explicit intention of hastening death Assisted suicide (number) With end-of-life decision Explicit intention of hastening death Ending of life without explicit request (number)
Total Total causes of death 170,972 79,268 22,195 57,073 91,608 9,931 48,580 2,657 20,640 9,799 9,038 245 517
Congenital anomalies (age zero) 155 63 19 44 92 14 0 0 72 6 0 0 6
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 440 190 92 98 250 65 56 0 129 0 0 0 0
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 44,987 16,379 1,127 15,252 28,608 1,592 16,746 993 3,327 5,950 5,684 98 168
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 28,348 17,164 7,827 9,337 11,184 1,940 5,789 409 2,497 550 411 24 115
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 10,328 4,706 615 4,091 5,622 608 2,865 161 1,557 431 401 30 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 17,167 7,416 1,297 6,119 9,751 1,336 4,591 151 2,593 1,080 952 17 111
Suicide (>0 years) 1,860 1,815 1,094 720 45 0 4 0 41 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 67,590 31,535 10,125 21,410 36,055 4,375 18,531 942 10,426 1,782 1,590 76 116
0 year Total causes of death 595 254 111 143 341 80 56 0 200 6 0 0 6
Congenital anomalies (age zero) 155 63 19 44 92 14 0 0 72 6 0 0 6
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero) 440 190 92 98 250 65 56 0 129 0 0 0 0
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years)
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0..
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years)
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs)
Suicide (>0 years)
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years)
1 to 16 years Total causes of death 278 183 130 53 95 4 34 0 57 0 0 0 0
Congenital anomalies (age zero)
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero)
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 31 16 3 14 15 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 17 17 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 33 15 3 12 17 0 7 0 10 0 0 0 0
Suicide (>0 years) 20 20 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 178 115 87 28 63 4 12 0 46 0 0 0 0
17 to 64 years Total causes of death 22,721 11,191 5,068 6,122 11,530 730 6,153 203 2,635 1,809 1,660 0 148
Congenital anomalies (age zero)
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero)
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 8,964 3,052 330 2,722 5,911 189 4,043 203 453 1,023 989 0 33
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 3,507 2,475 1,572 903 1,032 252 101 0 420 259 144 0 115
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 1,190 319 91 227 872 10 541 0 240 81 81 0 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 1,194 414 206 208 780 237 119 0 250 174 174 0 0
Suicide (>0 years) 1,276 1,235 705 530 41 0 0 0 41 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 6,590 3,695 2,163 1,532 2,894 43 1,349 0 1,230 272 272 0 0
65 to 79 years Total causes of death 54,916 25,754 7,856 17,898 29,162 2,049 14,492 1,038 6,512 5,072 4,708 200 164
Congenital anomalies (age zero)
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero)
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 21,191 7,645 475 7,170 13,546 604 7,547 484 1,336 3,575 3,342 98 135
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 8,817 6,085 2,741 3,344 2,732 348 1,123 97 1,083 82 58 24 0
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 3,469 1,821 249 1,572 1,648 206 802 0 474 166 136 30 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 3,951 1,527 413 1,114 2,424 117 732 91 939 545 527 17 0
Suicide (>0 years) 417 413 281 132 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 17,070 8,263 3,697 4,566 8,808 774 4,284 366 2,680 704 644 31 29
80 years or older Total causes of death 92,366 41,886 9,030 32,856 50,480 7,069 27,846 1,416 11,237 2,913 2,669 45 198
Congenital anomalies (age zero)
Other/unknown causes of death (age zero)
Malignant neoplasms (>0 years) 14,802 5,665 319 5,346 9,137 799 5,141 306 1,538 1,353 1,353 0 0
Diseases circulatory syst.excl.CVA (>0.. 16,024 8,604 3,513 5,091 7,420 1,340 4,565 312 994 209 209 0 0
Diseases respiratory system (>0 years) 5,651 2,549 257 2,292 3,102 393 1,522 161 842 184 184 0 0
Diseases nervous syst.incl.CVA (>0 yrs) 11,990 5,460 676 4,784 6,530 983 3,732 60 1,393 362 250 0 111
Suicide (>0 years) 147 147 88 59 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other/unknown causes of death (>0 years) 43,753 19,462 4,178 15,284 24,291 3,554 12,886 576 6,469 805 673 45 87
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


The survey of medical end-of-life decisions presents information on medical end-of-life decisions by attending physicians. For this survey, a random sample is taken from death certificates at Statistics Netherlands on persons listed in the Dutch population register who died in the months August to November inclusive of the survey year. The sample is raised to an annual figure.

This table concerns deaths by medical end-of-life decisions, cause of death and age.

Data available from: 2010, 2015 and 2021

Status of the figures:
All data are definite.

Changes as of 26 May 2023:
- Figures for 2021 have been added.
- In 2021, there were 96 deceased persons with unknown 'medical end-of-life'. These were only added to the total. The underlying numbers therefore do not add up to the total.

When will new figures be published?
The survey takes place every five years. In 2020, the survey was postponed by one year due to the high workload in the healthcare sector on account of COVID-19. As a result, there is a one-off six-year interval between 2015 and 2021.

Description topics

Total deaths
Total number of deaths
The weighting for 2021 was done when the final figures had not yet been established. As a result, there are 96 deaths with unknown 'medical end-of-life decision' in 2021. The total matches the figures in other StatLine tables on causes of death. The underlying categories of this survey do not exactly add up to the total for 2021.
Without end-of-life decision
Total without end-of-life decision
Sudden and unexpected death
A person’s sudden and unexpected death which is assumed not to have involved any medical end-of-life decision.
Not sudden and unexpected death
With end-of-life decision
Total with end-of-life decision
Withhold.medic.treatm.possible hasteni..
Withholding or withdrawing medical treatment while taking into account the possible hastening of death
Intensifying measures, possible hasten..
Intensifying measures to alleviate pain or other symptoms while taking into account the possible hastening of death
Intensifying measures, partly intendin..
Intensifying measures to alleviate pain or other symptoms while partly intending the possible hastening of death
Withholding medic.treatm.hastening death
Withholding or withdrawing medical treatment with the explicit intention of hastening death
Explicit intention of hastening death
Administering, supplying, or prescribing drugs with the explicit intention of hastening death, resulting in the patient’s death
Total explicit intention of hastening ..
Total administering, supplying, or prescribing drugs with the explicit intention of hastening death, resulting in the patient’s death
Euthanasia
Assisted suicide
Ending of life without explicit request
Ending of life without explicit patient request