Medically Reviewed By: Dr Paul Lim – MBBS, M.Med (Int Med), MRCP (UK), FAMS (Cardiology)
Heart disease is the story these numbers tell — and in Singapore, the numbers are moving. The eight statistics below come from published research: the national heart attack registry, the National Health Survey, and the Global Burden of Disease study.
These numbers count real people in Singapore. They are worth knowing not to worry you, but because most of what causes them can be measured and treated.
The pattern across this page is the same: what pushes these numbers up is weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. All four can be measured in a single visit, and all four can be treated.
Several of these are projections rather than measurements of what has already happened.
Using Singapore’s national heart attack registry, researchers project that heart attacks will rise by 194.4% between 2025 and 2050 — from 482 to 1,418 cases per 100,000 people. That is close to three times as many heart attacks for every 100,000 residents.
Among people who have a heart attack, being overweight or obese is projected to increase by 880.0% between 2025 and 2050 — growing far faster than every other major risk factor. For comparison: high blood pressure 248.7%, type 2 diabetes 215.7%, high cholesterol 205.0% and smoking 164.8%. Weight is rising much faster than the rest.
Heart attack deaths in people who are overweight or obese are projected to rise 294.7% by 2050. Over the same period, deaths linked to every other risk factor are expected to fall — smoking by 49.6%, diabetes by 32.7%, high blood pressure by 29.9% and high cholesterol by 11.7%. Treatment has improved for those four. It has not improved for weight.
The same registry analysis projects very different rates by ethnic group. By 2050, overweight and obesity among heart attack patients is expected to reach 10,372 per 100,000 in Malay and 4,261 per 100,000 in Indian residents, against 2,887 per 100,000 in Chinese residents — roughly 3.6 times and 1.5 times the Chinese rate. The gap exists already: the 2025 figures are 803, 601 and 299 per 100,000. Deaths are projected to rise 419.3% in Malay, 253.5% in Indian and 211.5% in Chinese patients. These are population averages, and the risk factors behind them respond to treatment.
In 2017, 6,292 people in Singapore died of cardiovascular disease — 30.1% of all deaths, which works out at about 17 people every day. The same paper puts ischaemic heart disease incidence at 321.4 per 100,000 and stroke at 222.1 per 100,000. The cardiovascular share of deaths has hovered near 30% across recent years.
In the National Health Survey, 26.3% of people found to have high blood pressure had never been diagnosed — more than one in four. It was highest among Malay residents (29.6%), then Chinese (26.0%) and Indian (23.8%). High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms, so feeling well tells you nothing about it. The only way to know is to measure it.
Among people already known to have high blood pressure, 67.4% had it under control — but that average hides a wide spread: 70% of Chinese, 68.9% of Indian and 51.5% of Malay patients. Prevalence differed too, at 28% in Malay, 23.4% in Chinese and 19.3% in Indian residents.
Across the ten ASEAN countries, 36.8 million people were living with cardiovascular disease in 2021 and 1.66 million died of it — making it the region’s single largest cause of disease burden. The most common form is ischaemic heart disease (narrowed heart arteries) at 2,070.6 cases per 100,000, driven mainly by high blood pressure, diet, air pollution, LDL cholesterol and tobacco.
These are population numbers. A heart screening turns them into your numbers — blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.
Three things worth knowing before you apply these numbers to yourself.
The 2050 figures come from extending past trends forward. They show what happens if nothing changes — which is why they get published. Better screening and treatment bend those lines, and the falling smoking and cholesterol figures show it has been done before.
Every figure here describes a group, not a person. Two people of the same age and background can have very different blood pressure, cholesterol and family history — and your own numbers matter far more than any national average.
Weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and smoking drive most of what these numbers measure — and all five respond to treatment, lifestyle change, or both.
The practical next step is not to worry about the averages but to find out your own numbers. Our heart screening packages measure blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in a single visit, and eight everyday habits cover most of what you can change yourself.
Senior Consultant Cardiologist & Cardiac Electrophysiologist
Dr Paul Lim is a Senior Consultant Cardiologist who helps patients translate population risk into their own numbers — assessing cardiovascular risk using ECG, echocardiography, treadmill stress testing and CT coronary imaging — and who subspecialises in heart rhythm disorders. He completed advanced fellowship training at Barts Heart Centre, London under Singapore’s HMDP award.
Contact us to schedule a consultation or to find out more about our cardiac services.
Answers to common questions about heart disease rates in Singapore and what they mean for you.
Cardiovascular disease — heart disease and stroke together — accounts for close to one in three deaths in Singapore. In 2017 there were 6,292 cardiovascular deaths, or 30.1% of all deaths, which works out at roughly 17 people every day. Cancer and cardiovascular disease are consistently the two largest causes of death here, and the cardiovascular share has stayed near 30% across recent years.
They are projected to. Using data from the Singapore Myocardial Infarction Registry covering 2007 to 2018, researchers modelled that the incidence of acute myocardial infarction would rise by 194.4% between 2025 and 2050 — from 482 to 1,418 cases per 100,000 people. That is close to three times as many heart attacks per 100,000 residents. It is important to read this as a projection based on past trends rather than a measurement of what has already happened, and an ageing population is part of what drives it.
Being overweight or obese. Among people who have a heart attack, the same national registry projection expects overweight and obesity to increase by 880.0% between 2025 and 2050 — far faster than high blood pressure (248.7%), type 2 diabetes (215.7%), high cholesterol (205.0%) or smoking (164.8%). Deaths follow the same pattern: heart attack deaths in people who are overweight or obese are projected to rise 294.7%, while deaths linked to smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are all projected to fall.
Published Singapore research reports differences. The national heart attack registry analysis projects that by 2050, overweight and obesity among heart attack patients will reach 10,372 per 100,000 in Malay residents and 4,261 per 100,000 in Indian residents, against 2,887 per 100,000 in Chinese residents — about 3.6 and 1.5 times the Chinese rate. Heart attack deaths are projected to rise 419.3% in Malay, 253.5% in Indian and 211.5% in Chinese patients.
One thing to watch when reading these figures: percentage growth is not the same as level of risk. The projected percentage increase in obesity is actually larger for Chinese patients (865.4%) than for Indian patients (609.1%), but that is growth from a much lower starting point — 299 versus 601 per 100,000 in 2025. The absolute rates are what show the gap.
Separately, National Health Survey data showed high blood pressure was most common among Malay residents (28%), followed by Chinese (23.4%) and Indian (19.3%). These are population averages, not predictions about any one person, and the risk factors behind them — weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar — are the ones that respond to treatment and lifestyle change.
In the National Health Survey, 26.3% of people found to have high blood pressure had never been diagnosed with it — more than one in four. The proportion was highest among Malay residents (29.6%), then Chinese (26.0%) and Indian (23.8%). High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms at all, so feeling well is not evidence that your blood pressure is normal. The only way to know is to have it measured.
Population statistics describe a group, not you. What makes them personally useful is turning them into your own numbers — blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and weight. Most of these can be measured in a single visit through a heart screening, and most of the risk they represent responds to treatment, lifestyle change, or both. If you have a family history of early heart disease, existing risk factors, or symptoms such as chest pain, breathlessness or palpitations, arrange an assessment rather than waiting.
The figures on this page come from these four peer-reviewed papers.
Two things worth noting when you read these. The 2050 figures in statistics 1–4 are modelled projections, not measurements — they extend past trends forward and assume nothing changes. And the survey figures in statistics 5–7 were published in 2020, drawing on National Health Survey data collected earlier, so they describe the recent past rather than this year. This page is general educational information and does not replace an assessment by a doctor who knows your history — a heart screening measures your own blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.
