Cancer accounted for almost one in three deaths last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Of all of the deaths registered in England and Wales, 30% were attributable to cancer.
Circulatory diseases including heart attacks and strokes accounted for 29% of deaths, while respiratory diseases including pneumonia were responsible for 14%.
Coronary heart disease was the biggest killer for men and women, with almost 65,000 deaths.
The second leading cause of mortality in women was dementia and Alzheimer's disease - accounting for 10.3% of female deaths.
Lung cancer was the second leading cause of death in men.
In 2011, 484,367 people died - a fall of 1.8% on the previous year when 493,242 deaths were registered.
The ONS said it was the third year in a row that annual death registrations were below half a million.
The report said: "Mortality rates are generally falling; reasons for this include medical advances in the treatment of many illnesses and diseases."