Abstract: Objective The present study was conducted to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of death cases of viral hepatitis among regular residents of Ningbo from 2002 to 2005. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analyses were conducted based on the diseases and injury deaths reporting tables and the database of death certificates for residents in Ningbo. Results The mortality rate of viral hepatitis in Ningbo from 2002 to 2005 was 10.21 /lakh, and the death cases accounted for 71.79% of all deaths of infectious diseases. Hepatitis B was the main type of viral hepatitis in death cases with the proportion of 64.81%. Chronic viral hepatitis death cases accounted for 89.44%, while acute viral hepatitis death cases for only 2.94%. The proportion of viral hepatitis as the contributory cause of liver cancer in death cases was 15.58% for the last four years in Ningbo, hepatitis B accounting for 65.93%. Conclusion The prevention and control of chronic viral hepatitis B should be highly focused on.