Introduction:
In Mexico, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent the most important cause of mortality, disability, and premature death. We aimed to analyze the mortality rate due to specific causes of atherothrombotic CVD, from 2011 to 2015.

Material and methods:
We analyzed 3,105,975 death certificates issued between January 2011 and December 2015. The 10th version of the codes published by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) was used to select CVD death records for ischemic heart disease, heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral artery disease. Regional analyses from the different federal states were also performed to provide inferences on the economic regions of the country.

Results:
We analyzed 594,370 (19.1%) death certificates with CVD as the basic cause of death occurring in Mexico during 2011–2015. Age-standardized CVD mortality showed a more stable pattern, from 96.7 per 100,000 people in 2011, to 111.7 per 100,000 in 2015. Cause-specific mortality rates increased more during the period for ischemic heart disease (63.8 vs. 74.8 per 100,000 people, in 2011 vs. 2015, respectively), as compared to heart failure (6.9 vs. 8.1 per 100,000 people), cerebrovascular disease (28.4 vs. 30.2 per 100,000 people), or peripheral artery disease (0.52 vs. 0.55 per 100,000 people). Overall, the survival age was significantly shorter in men (mean age at death 72.04 ±16.23 years) than in women (77.73 ±14.77). Ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease showed the shortest survival. The number of deaths increased steadily among the older population, with the steepest increase for overall ischemic heart disease over time.

Conclusions:
Atherothrombotic CVD mortality in Mexico increased during the study period, particularly at the expense of ischemic heart disease. Compared to their counterparts, survival age was shorter in men and in patients with ischemic heart disease and stroke.