This month, the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a brief report on the 2020 mortality data from the United States (Murphy et al, 2021).

This data is collected from death certificates filed in each state as well as the District of Columbia. The 10 most common causes of death in 2020 were:

  1. Heart disease
  2. Cancer
  3. COVID-19
  4. Unintentional injuries
  5. Stroke
  6. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
  7. Alzheimer’s disease
  8. Diabetes
  9. Influenza and pneumonia
  10. Kidney disease

New to this list in 2020 was COVID-19. Life expectancy from birth in 2020 was 77 years, which was a decline in life expectancy from the prior year. Age-specific death rates were higher compared to 2019 for all age groups aged 15 years and older. Access the full report.

Reference

Murphy S, Kochanek K, Xu J, Arias E. (2021) Mortality in the United States, 2020. NCHS Data Brief, no 427. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

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