COVID-19 drops to 10th leading cause of death in the United States

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that in the United States, death rates decreased across all age groups in comparison to 2022. Notable findings from the CDC data include a decline in COVID-19 as a leading cause of death, moving from the third-leading cause early in the pandemic to the tenth spot last year. Heart disease, cancer, and a category encompassing injuries like gun deaths and drug overdoses were identified as the top three causes of death.

Overall, there were around 3.1 million deaths in the U.S. during the previous year, a decrease from 3.3 million in 2022. Prior to the pandemic, the number of deaths typically rose annually due to population growth. However, with the impact of COVID-19, 2021 marked the deadliest year in U.S. history with 3.4 million deaths. The improvement in 2022 was attributed to the decline in COVID-19 cases as the pandemic subsided.

Despite the decrease in death rates for all racial and ethnic groups, disparities persist. Age-adjusted death rates, used by scientists to compare different groups considering variations in age distributions, were reported as lowest among multiracial individuals and Asian Americans, while Black people had the highest rates.

The CDC’s provisional data is compiled from information on death certificates collected to date, with final data anticipated to be available later this year.