Health-assisted deaths in Canada hit a record high in 2023, at nearly one in 20 deaths.

Medically assisted dying in Canadalegal in that country in some cases, it reached a record high last year, accounting for nearly one in 20 deaths, government data show.

According to data, released Wednesday by Health Canada, approximately 4.7% of Canadians who die in 2023 will receive MAID, or Medical Assistance in Dying.

This is an increase of 15.8% compared to 2022, but overall the upward trend is slow, according to the data. From 2019 to 2022, the average growth rate was 31%.

Health Canada defines MAID as “a health service that allows a person who is found to be eligible to receive help from a physician to end their life.”

To qualify, individuals must fit a list of criteria, including being at least 18 years old, mentally competent and having a “serious and irreversible medical condition.”

Most of the 2023 cases, about 96 percent, involved people who had one of these conditions and were evaluated as natural deaths that were “reasonably apparent.”

Of the 19,660 MAID applications received in 2023, approximately 15,343 people received them. Others died before receiving MAID (about 2,906 people); some were deemed ineligible (915) and others withdrew their application (496).

The data was part of the country's fifth annual report on medically assisted dying, which is the first time it looks at the race, ethnicity or culture of MAID recipients. The report found the majority of recipients identified as Caucasian or White (95.8%) and the second most identified as East Asian (1.8%).

Canada is among a handful of other countries, including Australia, Austria, New Zealand and Spain, that have passed death penalty laws. In the US, assisted dying is legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia.

Earlier this month, the The UK passed the first vote in a bill that would allow assisted dying for terminally ill people.