"Figure 5: In Wales, COVID-19 was the leading cause of death in December 2020 for the second consecutive month","" "Age-standardised mortality rate for selected leading causes of death, per 100,000 people, Wales, deaths registered in December 2020","" "","" "Notes","1. Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population. Monthly rates in this bulletin are adjusted to allow for comparisons with annual rates. For more information, see [Section 10: Measuring the data](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales/october2020#measuring-the-data). 3. Figures for 2020 are based on provisional mortality data and projected populations. 4. Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. 5. ""COVID-19"" includes only deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death." "Unit","Age-standardised mortality rates" "","" "Leading cause","December","5-year average" "COVID-19","374.4","0.0" "Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease","121.2","120.5" "Ischaemic heart diseases","111.9","114.3" "Cerebrovascular diseases","60.0","62.9" "Malignant neoplasm of trachea bronchus and lung","58.3","57.4" "Chronic lower respiratory diseases","50.8","68.2" "Influenza and Pneumonia","38.6","73.2" "Malignant neoplasm of colon sigmoid rectum and anus","31.2","29.6" "Diseases of the urinary system","24.9","19.4" "Malignant neoplasm of breast","22.0","19.0"