The disease burden and mortality were estimated in Saudi Arabia between 2010 and 2017 but were unknown in 2018. This study aims to assess the 2018 national and regional rates of chronic diseases and all-cause mortality among the total and Saudi populations. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, we obtained data from 24,012 households from the 2018 household health survey. We included doctor-diagnosed chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), cardiovascular diseases (CAD), and cancer (CN). A secondary analysis was performed by the total and Saudi populations. Both citizens and residents comprised the total population. Makkah and Al-Medina had greater rates among the total population; however, Al-Baha and Ha'il had high rates of chronic diseases and related mortality in the Saudi population. Age-adjusted mortality rates were 286 per 100,000 population-year. The age-adjusted mortality rate among those aged 65 and above was 3428 per 100,000 population in the same age group. Men had a rate of 1779 per 100,000 men, which was higher than the rate of 1649 for women. In 2018, most citizens in Ha'il had DM, most Al-Baha had HTN and CAD, and most Al-Qassim had CN. People aged 65 and older had the highest death rate.
Keywords: Saudi Arabia; cancer; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes mellitus; hypertension; mortality.