Abstract: ObjectiveTo analyze the leading causes of death and potential years of life lost (PYLL) of residents living in Simao, Yunnan Province.MethodsData from the death registry system in Simao in 2014 were analyzed to obtain the encoding and classification of causes of death based on the ICD10 and the statistical classification criteria for the causes of death of residents of China. The mortality rate, composition ratio, life expectancy, PYLL, and PYLL rate (PYLLR) were calculated to estimate the main causes of the death and life lost of the residents.ResultsIn 2014, the total number of deaths were 1 911 cases, the crude mortality rate was 640.89/100 000, and the standardized mortality rate was 633.76/100 000. The standardized mortality rate of men (689.94/100 000) was higher than that of women (491.83/100 000). The top five leading causes of death were heart disease, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory diseases, and injuries and poisoning, accounting for 73.89% (1 412/1 911) of the total deaths. The average life expectancy of residents was 72.99 years. Removing the influence of the top five leading causes of death, the life expectancy could improve 20.93 years; separately removing the causes of death due to heart disease, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory diseases, and injuries and poisoning, the life expectancy could improve 2.67, 2.38, 1.89, 1.16, and 1.37 years, respectively. The leading causes of PYLL were injuries and poisoning, malignant neoplasms, cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases, with the PYLLRs of 17.32‰, 16.00‰, 9.76‰, 7.49‰, and 3.80‰ , respectively. The first leading cause of PYLL was injuries and poisoning in men, consistent with that in the whole population, whereas malignant neoplasms were topranking causes of PYLL in women.ConclusionThe leading causes of death among residents in Simao were chronic noninfectious diseases. Appropriate interventions and effective strategy should be adopted based on the causes of death of the residents in Simao.