Heart disease has been the leading cause of death globally over the past 20 years. However, the number of people it kills today is greater than ever before. The number of deaths from heart disease has risen by more than 2 million since 2000, reaching nearly 9 million deaths in 2019. Heart disease now represents 16 percent of all deaths from all causes. More than half of the additional two million deaths resulting from it were concentrated in the Western Pacific region. In contrast, the European region witnessed a relative decline in heart disease, with deaths resulting from it decreasing by 15%.