Covid deaths in the U.S. fell 69% from 2022 to 2023, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That put the disease as the 10th leading cause of death last year, down from fourth in 2022.
Covid was the underlying or contributing cause of more than 76,000 deaths in 2023, according to the report — around 1.6% of the country’s total. That was a major drop from 2022, when around 245,000 Covid-related deaths were reported, representing 5.7% of the total.
The report notes that Covid deaths decreased last year for people of all ages and racial and ethnic groups, but those ages 85 and up still represented an outsize share.
Whereas American Indian and Alaska Native people had the highest rate of Covid deaths during the pandemic, white people had the highest rate last year: nearly 20 out of every 100,000 people.
The findings are estimates based on U.S. death certificates. The CDC is expected to release a final report later in the year after further analysis of the data.
According to the CDC, the number of Covid deaths is still substantial and the virus represents a continued threat, especially to older adults and people with underlying medical issues. But compared with the pandemic era, Covid is now less likely to result in severe illness due to widespread immunity from vaccines and prior infections. The antiviral medication Paxlovid can also reduce the likelihood of hospitalization or death.
Since immunity to Covid wanes, the CDC still recommends that most people get an updated Covid vaccination when it becomes available this fall.
At its peak in 2020 and 2021, Covid was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. But for the last two years, the top three rankings have been consistent: heart disease first, followed by cancer and then unintentional injuries such as drowning, falls or car crashes.
Heart disease deaths decreased last year, but not enough to influence the rankings. Nearly 681,000 people died of heart disease in 2023, compared with nearly 703,000 in 2022, according to the report.
At the same time, cancer deaths rose from more than 608,000 in 2022 to more than 613,000 in 2023.
Cancer deaths have been in a long-term pattern of decline due to reductions in smoking, earlier detection of some cancers and improved treatment options. But a January report from the American Cancer Society found that several types — including breast, kidney, pancreatic, prostate and uterine cancer — were on the rise, along with liver cancer in women and colorectal and cervical cancer in young adults.
In an editorial accompanying the report, CDC researchers said the pandemic may still be having effects on some of the country’s other leading causes of death. For example, they wrote, “increases in drug overdose and alcohol use–related diseases during the pandemic may continue to affect other leading causes, like unintentional injuries and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis.”
