CDC Presents Provisional Mortality Data for 2023 in the United States

Number of deaths from COVID-19 was 68.9 percent lower than in 2022

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Aug. 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In 2023, there was a provisional total of 3,090,582 deaths in the United States, according to research published in the Aug. 8 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Farid B. Ahmad, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues examined mortality in the United States using provisional data, based on preliminary death certificate data, for 2023.

The researchers found a provisional total of 3,090,582 deaths in the United States in 2023. The age-adjusted death rate was 884.2 and 632.8 per 100,000 population among males and females, respectively. The overall rate was 6.1 percent lower than in 2022 (750.4 versus 798.8). All age groups had a decrease in the overall rate. In 2023, the overall age-adjusted deaths rates were lowest and highest for non-Hispanic multiracial and non-Hispanic Black or African American persons, respectively (352.1 and 924.3, respectively). Heart disease, cancer, and unintentional injury were the leading causes of death. The number of deaths from COVID-19 was 68.9 percent lower than in 2022 (76,446 versus 245,614).

“Provisional death estimates can give researchers and policymakers an early signal about shifts in mortality trends and provide actionable information sooner than do the final mortality data,” the authors write. “These data can guide public health policies and interventions that are intended to reduce mortality.”