Abstract Background and Aims Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment of end stage renal disease (ESRD). Despite improvements in patient selection and management, every transplant carries risk of graft loss. Death with graft function (DWGF) is an important cause of long-term loss of grafts and patients. In this study, we investigated clinical characteristics and causes of DWGF among a cohort of 2953 Egyptian kidney transplant recipients. Method A total of 291 recipients who died with graft function (DWGF) were evaluated regarding causes and timing of death. Causes of death were investigated in different eras of immunosuppression; era 1 (1976-1995): steroid and azathioprine, era 2 (1996-2005): cyclosporine-based and era 3 (2006-2018): tacrolimus-based. Demographic data, original kidney disease, pre- and post-transplant co-morbidities, immunosuppression regimens, biopsy proven acute rejection episodes and graft function at last follow up were analyzed. Results Proportion of DWGF in total graft loss had changed over time. In our retrospective study, it decreases from 29.5% in era 1 to 13.7% in the most recent era of kidney transplantation. Most patients in DWGF group had diabetes mellitus, hypertension, frequently experienced more infections and more rejection episodes. cyclosporine-based immunosuppression was more prevalent. A total of 291 patients (9.9%) died with graft function. DWGF was responsible for 58.3% of a total of 499 deaths (figure 1). For this group of patients, median serum creatinine at last follow up was 1.7 mg/dl (range: 0.2 - 7 mg/dl). Out of 291 recipients who died with functioning graft, 53 patients (18.2%) died within the first year, 55 (18.9%) died within 1-5 years, 75 (25.8%) died within 5-10 years while 108 patients (37.1%) died after 10 years post transplantation. The majority of DWGF was secondary to cardio-vascular diseases (CVD) (30.9%) and serious infections (29.2%) (figure 2). Death due to malignancy was lowest within the first year (1.9%), increased thereafter but unexpectedly malignancy (22.2%) was the third main cause of death in the late period after transplantation (figure 3). Conclusion DWGF accounts for 24.5% of total graft loss. The most common cause is cardiovascular disease followed by serious infections. Pre-transplant diabetes mellitus, steroid dose and infections had most significant association with DWGF. Understanding different causes of death according to the time after transplantation is mandatory in order to improve the long-term outcomes.