Lifespan variation has been decreasing in industrialised societies, as individuals became more homogeneous in their age at death. But are individuals also becoming more homogeneous in their causes of death? In this paper, we study the variation of causes of death and show that, due to the major reductions in deaths from circulatory diseases, the share of a range of other causes of death, such as diseases of the genitourinary system, mental and behavioural disorders and diseases of the nervous system, has been increasing in the last two decades in 15 low mortality countries. This redistribution of cardiovascular deaths towards many other causes is leading to a diversification of causes of death.

Marie-Pier Bergeron Boucher is a postdoctoral researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center on Population Dynamics (CPop) at the University of Southern Denmark. Coming from a background in demography, her research interests include the study of human mortality, longevity and ageing, with a particular interest in exploring new demographic methods to help understand and forecast population health and mortality in industrialised societies.