With 829 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Spain had the lowest death rate in the EU in 2016, followed by France (838 deaths), Italy (843) and Malta (882), whereas Croatia, although a Mediterranean country, ranked sixth with 1,336 deaths, Eurostat said on Tuesday.

With 1,602 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Bulgaria had the highest death rate in the EU in 2016. It was followed by Latvia and Romania (both 1,476), Lithuania (1,455) and Hungary (1,425).

The death rate stood on average at 1,002 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

Diseases of the circulatory system were the main cause of deaths in the EU (36%), followed by cancers (26%), diseases of the respiratory system (8%), accidents and other external causes of deaths (5%), diseases of the digestive system (4%), and mental and behavioural diseases (4%).