2024 NC Resident Child Deaths

Table 2: Leading Causes of Child Death by Age Group: Ages 1-17

Back to 2024 Child Deaths

Rank Cause # of Deaths Percent
1 Motor vehicle injuries 108 17.5%
2 Unintentional Injuries not related to Motor Vehicles 102 16.6%
3 Homicide 76 12.3%
4 Cancer 50 8.1%
5 Suicide 44 7.1%
6 Congenital anomalies (birth defects) 39 6.3%
7 Diseases of the heart 25 4.1%
8 Pneumonia & influenza 15 2.4%
9 Chronic lower respiratory diseases 9 1.5%
10 In-situ/benign neoplasms 5 0.8%
10 Septicemia 5 0.8%
  All other causes (Residual) 138 22.4%
  Total Deaths - All Causes 616 100%

*Leading causes of death are generated from a list of 51 causes of death categories developed by the National Center for Health Statistics to promote comparability in analyses of mortality.

For deaths under one year of age, a list of 72 causes of death was used. See Appendices for the ICD-10 codes for these lists of causes.

Prepared by NC Department of Health and Human Services, Title V Office in Collaboration with the State Center for Health Statistics, 17 APR 2026.