"Figure 6: In Wales, dementia and Alzheimer's disease remained the leading cause of death in December 2022","" "Age-standardised mortality rate for selected leading causes of death, per 100,000 people, Wales, deaths registered in December 2022","" "","" "Notes","1. Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population. Monthly rates in this bulletin are adjusted to allow for comparisons with annual rates. For more information, see the [Measuring the data section](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales/december2022#measuring-the-data). 2. Figures for 2022 are based on provisional mortality data and both 2021 and 2022 are based on projected populations. 3. Based on underlying cause of death. 4. Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. 5. The five-year average has been provided for 2016 to 2019 and 2021 because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on deaths registered in 2020. This provides an up-to-date comparison (rather than 2015 to 2019) of the number of deaths expected per month in a usual (non-coronavirus pandemic) year. Where a five-year average cannot be provided, it is denoted as ""[z]"" in the data downloads. 6. Leading causes are ranked based on number of deaths, not age-standardised mortality rates." "Unit","Age-standardised mortality rates" "","" "Leading cause","December 2022","Five-year average" "Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease","138.0","126.6" "Ischaemic heart diseases","112.6","113.2" "Chronic lower respiratory diseases","83.5","68.0" "Influenza and pneumonia","70.3","66.7" "Cerebrovascular diseases","58.0","60.1" "Malignant neoplasm of trachea bronchus and lung","45.8","55.6" "Symptoms signs and ill-defined conditions","45.1","24.4" "COVID-19","30.1","[z]" "Malignant neoplasm of colon sigmoid rectum and anus","23.3","30.1" "Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease","22.9","16.8"