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The annual American Heart Association (AHA) and National Institutes of Health statistical report details the most up to date statistics related to heart disease, stroke and cardiovascular risk factors, primarily within the USA. Although not a formal systematic review or meta-analysis, this 600 page report provides the most comprehensive and best summary of cardiovascular statistics for the year in question. Although data are collated from USA data registries, it serves as a critical resource for clinicians, policymakers, administrators and researchers in the northern and southern hemispheres. In this special report, we have chosen to highlight aspects of the document that are relevant to nephrologists, given the overlap of cardiovascular and renal disease. These include (i) key and emerging cardiovascular data signals in the general and chronic kidney disease (CKD) populations, (ii) ethnic and socio-economic disparity, (iii) environmental and behavioural factors that drive high levels of cardiovascular disease and which are key components of the AHA's eight components of the Life Essential cardiovascular health score, and (iv) the impact of COVID-19 both directly and indirectly on heart health. We provide some commentary and critical analysis of both the data and of the production of such data sets suggesting that similar data on CKD could also be published and linked to the AHA and other datasets., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the ERA.)