New data indicates that as vaccination rates and natural immunity increased, COVID-19 has dropped to the 10th leading cause of death by 2023. Despite this significant decline, with over 76,000 deaths directly or indirectly attributed to the virus last year, it remains a serious concern, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This marks a nearly 69% reduction from the approximately 246,000 COVID-related deaths in 2022. The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, led by Farida Bhuiya Ahmad, observed that COVID-19’s impact on U.S. mortality has shifted considerably since the pandemic began.
In 2020, COVID-19 dramatically altered the leading causes of death. However, its mortality burden has decreased over time. The team analyzed U.S. death data from 2019 to 2023, revealing that heart disease consistently remained the leading cause of death, claiming nearly 2.85 million lives in 2019, rising to almost 3.7 million in 2021, and then settling to just over 3 million in 2023.
Cancer held its position as the second leading cause of death, with annual fatalities ranging between 650,000 and 700,000 from 2019 to 2023. The cancer death rate showed a steady decline, except for a brief uptick in 2021.
In 2023, “unintentional injuries” moved back to the third spot among the leading causes of death, surpassing COVID-19, which had been in third place before dropping to 10th. The category of “unintentional injuries,” which includes drug overdose deaths, saw a 26.3% increase in death rates from 2019 (173,040 deaths) to 2023 (222,518 deaths).
The remaining leading causes of death in 2023 included stroke (162,639 deaths), chronic lower respiratory diseases (145,350), Alzheimer’s disease (114,034), diabetes (95,181), kidney disease (55,250), and chronic liver disease/cirrhosis (52,220). Notably, deaths related to diabetes and liver disease are rising steadily.
Suicide ranked as the 11th leading cause of death in 2023, with numbers increasing from 47,511 in 2019 to 49,303 in 2023, though there is a downward trend in recent years.
These findings were detailed in studies published on August 8 in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For more information on preventing the leading cause of death, heart disease, visit the American Heart Association.