CDC provisional data: COVID-19 death rate declined 47% in 2022

Key takeaways:

• In 2022, the overall death rate in the United States dropped 5.3% from 2021.
• COVID-19 — previously the third-leading cause of death in 2020 and 2021 — dropped to fourth place in 2022.

From 2021 to 2022, the overall death rate in the United States decreased about 5% and COVID-19 death rates nearly 50%, according to research published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Farida B. Ahmad, MPH, a researcher in the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, and colleagues released two reports looking at early death certificate data for U.S. residents who died in 2022.

“Provisional death estimates can offer researchers and policymakers an early signal about shifts in mortality trends and provide actionable information sooner than do the final mortality data,” Ahmad and colleagues wrote. “These data can guide public health policies and interventions aimed at reducing mortality directly or indirectly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and among persons most affected.”

Compared with 2021, the death rate decreased by 5.3%, from 879.7 per 100,000 persons in 2021 to 832.8. COVID-19 was a contributing cause or the underlying cause in about 7.5% of those deaths — 244,986 people (61.3 deaths per 100,000).

The researchers additionally noted disparities: overall death rates were highest among men and the Black, American Indian or Alaska Native communities.

The leading causes of death were heart disease, (699,659 deaths), cancer (607,790 deaths) and unintentional injury, (218,064 deaths) largely driven by a high number of overdose deaths.

COVID-19 — previously the third leading cause of death in 2020 and 2021 — dropped to fourth place in 2022. A large proportion of 2022 COVID-19-associated deaths occurred during the first few months of the year, according to the report, and COVID-19 was the primary cause of death in 76% of deaths with COVID-19 listed as a cause on the death certificate. In comparison, COVID-19 was listed as the underlying cause on approximately 90% of death certificates during the first 2 years of the pandemic.

Compared with 2021, the age-adjusted COVID-19 death rate declined 47% from 115.6 to 61.3 per 100,000 persons.

Like overall mortality, the researchers saw disparities in COVID-19 death rates, which were highest among men (76.3 per 100,000 vs. 49.8 per 100,000 deaths for women), people aged 85 years or older (1,224.2 per 100,000 deaths), and American Indian or Alaska Native (86.8 per 100,000 deaths).

“These data provide updated information that advances understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on mortality and how these have continued to shift during the course of the pandemic,” Ahmad and colleagues wrote. “These findings also help to guide public health policies and interventions intended to reduce severe COVID-19 impact by providing insight into groups that remain vulnerable to COVID-19–associated mortality.”

References:

• Ahmad FB, et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2023;doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7218a3.
• Ahmad FB, et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2023;doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7218a4.