Residents in eastern outer Melbourne, which includes suburbs in Maroondah and Knox and inner suburbs of the Yarra Ranges, have a 21.5 per cent prevalence of cardiovascular disease - about 5.1 per cent higher than the national average, statistics released by the Heart Foundation show.

Residents also had a medium incidence of other risk factors such as blood pressure (11.3 per cent), cholesterol (6 per cent), obesity (56.3 per cent) and smoking (18.1 per cent).

Almost three in four residents were also doing little or no exercise.

Residents in outer parts of Yarra Ranges, which made up Yarra Ranges Shire Part A area, had a lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease (12.5 per cent) and lower risk factors.

Heart Foundation chief executive Kathy Bell said cardiovascular disease was a problem for the whole country.

"Because of an ageing population and risk factors on the rise, the Heart Foundation is very concerned that deaths from cardiovascular disease could rise in the years ahead."

Each year, more than 46,000 Australians die from cardiovascular disease.