Annual Risk Of Death During One's Lifetime

Disease and Accidental Causes of Deaths Annual Deaths Death Risk During One's Lifetime Heart disease 652,486 1 in 5 Cancer 553,888 1 in 7 Stroke 150,074 1 in 24 Hospital Infections 99,000 1 in 38 Flu 59,664 1 in 63 Car accidents 44,757 1 in 84 Suicide 31,484 1 in 119 Accidental poisoning 19,456 1 in 193 MRSA (resistant bacteria) 19,000 1 in 197 Falls 17,229 1 in 218 Drowning 3,306 1 in 1,134 Bike accident 762 1 in 4,919 Air/space accident 742 1 in 5,051 Excessive cold 620 1 in 6,045 Sun/heat exposure 273 1 in 13,729 Lightning 47 1 in 79,746 Train crash 24 1 in 156,169 Fireworks 11 1 in 340,733 Shark attack 1 1 in 3,748,067

Sources: All accidental death information from National Safety Council. Disease death information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shark fatality data provided by the International Shark Attack File.

Lifetime risk is calculated by dividing 2003 population (290,850,005) by the number of deaths, divided by 77.6, the life expectancy of a person born in 2003.