VANCOUVER, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Cancer, heart disease and stroke were the three leading causes of death in Canada, accounting for 56 percent of all deaths in 2009, according to Statistics Canada.

The country' s national statistical agency said Wednesday that cancer, the leading cause of death in Canada, was responsible for 30 percent of the 238,418 deaths in 2009, followed by heart disease and stroke.

From 2000 to 2009, age-standardized mortality rates declined for all 10 of the leading causes of death. The largest relative decreases were in rates for heart disease and stroke, which both fell 33 percent over this period, it said.

Cancer and heart disease were the first and second leading causes of death for those over 35 years of age, while accidents and suicide were the two leading causes of death among children and younger Canadians that aged 1 to 34.

Men and women shared 9 out of 10 leading causes of death in 2009. However, accidents and suicide ranked higher for men than for women and Alzheimer's disease figured more prominently among the leading causes for women than for men, it said. Enditem

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