"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

So said former US President Benjamin Franklin in an oft-quoted letter.

Every year around 50,000 Scots pass away, and the country has among the highest rates of mortality in Europe.

We have taken a look at the factors behind these deaths to bring together the ten most common causes of fatality, using the latest statistics from the first three months of 2016.

Malignant tumours or neoplasms are the biggest killer of Scots. Many of these are cancerous, primarily lung cancer (1011 deaths), breast cancer (275 deaths), and prostate cancer (233 deaths).

It is estimated that more than 2 in 5 people in Scotland will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime

Overall, 2.9% of men and 3.7% of women in Scotland are living with some form of the disease.

Scots are the most likely to die from heart disease in the UK, with studies showing as many as four times as many die as a result.

Circulatory conditions include acute myocardial infarction (a medical term for a heart attack), angina, heart failure, and coronary heart disease.

Coronary heart disease was the underlying cause of around 6,800 deaths in Scotland in 2014.

Around 7.8% of men and 4.7% of women live with the condition during the same year.

These include conditions such as influenza, pneumonia, ashthma, and chronic respitary diseases.

The most deadly of these is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which makes it hard to breathe due to lung inflammation constricting airways. It was previously described as chronic bronchitis or emphysema.

Lung inflammation is due to irritation of the lungs, typically by tobacco smoke. Damage done to the lungs is irreversible.

Mental health problems result in significant health challenges in Scotland with one in four Scots experiencing mental health issues at some time.

The most common problem is depression and anxiety together, with 108 women per 1000 and 68 men per 1000 affected.

Nearly one in 10 Scots aged 15 and over (more than 300,000) is estimated to take antidepressant drugs on a daily basis.

Digestive conditions can refer to a number of diseases which affect the digestive tract.

These include appendicitis, coeliac disease, Crohn's, inflammatory bowel disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and various types of ulcer.

Chronic liver disease also falls under this description and alone killed 218 Scots in the first quarter of 2016.

Conditions affecting the nervous system refer to neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and stroke. These affect the memory and ability to perform daily activities.

Sense organ illnesses include Bell's Palsy, blindness, and other conditions which affect the ability to hear, see, smell or feel.

Accidents can refer to falls, road traffic accidents, unintentional poisonings, drownings and any number of other potential incidents.

The number of people killed from injuries sustained in falls is becoming a bigger concern as the Scots population ages. It accounted for 211 deaths in the first 2016 quarter.

Falls and fractures in people aged 65 and over account for over 390,500 bed days each year in Scotland, and falls are the leading cause of accident-related mortality in older people.

Road traffic accidents are also a significant cause of fatal injury, with 43 reported in the period.

These conditions can be passed through sexual intercourse, or bacterial changes which cause symptoms.

Diseases of the kidney and ureter also come under this description.

The most common disease in this area is diabetes, which affects one in 20 people in Scotland.

According to Diabetes Scotland, estimates of diabetes prevalence ranged from 4.34% to 5.8% across NHS health boards regions.

The majority of people living with diabetes (88.2%) have type 2 diabetes and nearly 11% have type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is not preventable and symptoms usually begin in childhood. Type 2 diabetes is often linked to an unhealthy lifestyle and being overweight.

Among the most well-known and common infectious/parasitic diseases are tuberculosis, meningitis, hepatitis and HIV.

The prevalence of these infection diseases has fallen significantly in recent decades as access to medical attention and methods of prevention have become more well-known.

Over 6,600 people are living with HIV in Scotland, approximately 1 in every 802 people. Many people can now live with the disease, and there were just four deaths from the condition in the first quarter of 2016.