COVID was 3rd leading cause of death in 2021, CDC says; here were the others – MassLive.com

For a second year in a row, coronavirus was the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

COVID-19 was associated with roughly 460,000 deaths in the country from January to December 2021, accounting for 13.3% of all deaths in the United States last year, marking an increase from 10.4% the year before, the CDC noted in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Friday. Comparatively, heart disease caused 693,021 deaths in the U.S. last year, and cancer caused 604,553.

The year 2021 saw the highest death rate since 2003, with increases in many leading causes of death, including COVID-19 and unintentional injuries, the CDC said in its report. Unintentional injury deaths were largely driven by drug overdose deaths, and likely contributed to the increased death rate in younger populations.

The provisional number of COVID-19 and other deaths by week of death in 2021 compared to 2020. (CDC)

The CDCs report presents an overview of provisional mortality data for 2021, including a comparison of death statistics between 2021 and 2020. Last year, there were around 3.458 million deaths in total in the U.S., up by roughly 75,000 deaths from the year before.

Of the total number of deaths in 2021, roughly 460,513 involved coronavirus, marking an increase of nearly 76,000 from 2020. Last year, COVID-19 death rates were lowest among people ages 1-4 and 5-14 and highest among those ages 85 and above. Coronavirus death rates increased from 2020 to 2021 for all age groups, except for those ages 85 and above.

Looking at race and ethnicity, demographic patterns in COVID-19-related death rates for 2021 were similar to those in 2021. However, certain populations experienced shifts. While coronavirus death rates decreased among Asian, Black and Hispanic individuals, rates increased for American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as well as white people.

The 10 leading causes of death in 2021. (CDC)

Rates did not just increase for deaths caused by COVID-19, but for other leading causes of death as well. Unintentional injuries, for example, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States in both 2020 and 2021, rose from causing 200,955 deaths in 2020 to 219,487 last year, according to the CDC.

Other leading causes of death in the U.S. maintained the same ranking from 2020 to 2021, except for kidney disease and influenza and pneumonia, with kidney disease rising to the ninth leading cause of death and influenza and pneumonia dropping from ninth to 11th. Suicide, which was not among the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. in 2020, was the 10th leading cause in 2021, accounting for 47,458 deaths, the CDC said.

The four other leading causes of death in the United States last year included: stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer disease and diabetes.

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COVID was 3rd leading cause of death in 2021, CDC says; here were the others - MassLive.com