| Causes of Death in the US, 2021 (Unless otherwise indicated) | |
|---|---|
| Cause of Death | Number |
| All Causes | 3,464,231 |
| Major Cardiovascular Diseases (MCD) | 925,923 |
| Diseases of Heart [subset of MCD] | 695,547 |
| Cerebrovascular Diseases [subset of MCD] | 162,890 |
| Essential Hypertension and Hypertensive Renal Disease [subset of MCD] | 42,816 |
| Malignant Neoplasms [Cancer] | 605,213 |
| COVID-19 | 416,893 |
| Accidents (Unintentional Injuries) [Total] | 224,935 |
| Motor Vehicle Accidents [subset of Total Accidents] | 46,980 |
| Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases | 142,342 |
| Alzheimer's Disease | 119,399 |
| Diabetes Mellitus | 103,294 |
| Drug-Induced Deaths2 | 111,219 |
| Nephritis, Nephrotic Syndrome and Nephrosis | 54,358 |
| Influenza and Pneumonia | 41,917 |
| Intentional Self-Harm (Suicide) | 48,183 |
| Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis | 56,585 |
| Alcoholic Liver Disease [subset of Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis] | 33,098 |
| Septicemia | 41,281 |
| Firearm-Related Injuries | 48,830 |
| Alcohol-Induced Deaths | 54,258 |
| Parkinson Disease | 38,536 |
| Pneumonitis Due to Solids and Liquids | 19,969 |
| Assault (Homicide) | 26,031 |
| Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Disease | 4,977 |
| Viral Hepatitis | 3,589 |
| Deaths Attributed to Tobacco Smoking (Each year from 2005 through 2009)1 | 480,320 |
| Medical Errors (2013 estimate) | 251,454 |
| All Illicit Drugs Combined (2000)3 | 17,0002 |
| Cannabis (Marijuana)4 | 0 |
| 2016 Data Detailing Drug-Induced Deaths, Breaking Out Specific Data for Natural and Semi-Synthetic Opioids (including Oxycodone), Synthetic Opioids (including Fentanyl), and Heroin, as Reported by the CDC7 | |
| Total Deaths Attributed to Drug Overdose | 63,632 |
| Overdose Deaths Involving Any Opioid | 42,249 |
| Overdose Deaths Involving Heroin | 15,469 |
| Overdose Deaths Involving Natural and Semi-Synthetic Opioids | 14,487 |
| Overdose Deaths Involving Methadone | 3,373 |
| Overdose Deaths Involving Synthetic Opioids Other Than Methadone | 19,413 |
| 2014 Data Detailing Drug-Induced Deaths, Breaking Out Specific Data for Prescription Analgesics and Heroin, as Reported by the CDC5 | |
| Drug Overdose Total | 47,055 |
| Deaths Involving Pharmaceutical Opioid Analgesics | 18,893 |
| Deaths Involving Heroin | 10,574 |
| 2010 Drug Overdose Mortality Data In Detail, Reported By Paulozzi et al.6 | |
| Drug Overdose Total | 38,329 |
| Deaths Involving Pharmaceutical Drugs | 22,134 |
| Deaths Involving Pharmaceutical Opioids | 16,651 |
1 Estimated number of deaths annually 2005-2009. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: 50 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014.
2 Re drug-induced deaths: "This category includes deaths from poisoning and medical conditions caused by use of legal or illegal drugs, as well as deaths from poisoning due to medically prescribed and other drugs. It excludes deaths indirectly related to drug use, as well as newborn deaths due to the mother's drug use."
3 Mokdad, Ali H., PhD, James S. Marks, MD, MPH, Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc, Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, "Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000," Journal of the American Medical Association, (March 10, 2004), G225 Vol. 291, No. 10, 1242.
4 No recorded cases of overdose deaths from cannabis have been found in extensive literature reviews, see for example Gable, Robert S., "The Toxicity of Recreational Drugs," American Scientist (Research Triangle Park, NC: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, May-June 2006) Vol. 94, No. 3, p. 207.
5 CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality File, 2015, last accessed Dec. 11, 2015.
6 Paulozzi et al analyzed mortality figures and found that of 38,329 drug overdose deaths then reported in 2010, pharmaceutical drugs accounted for 22,134 deaths, of which 16,651 were opiod analgesic overdoses. The data were apparently revised slightly between the time the research letter was published in JAMA (February 2013) and release of the CDC's Deaths: Final Data for 2010 publication report, officially dated May 8, 2013.
7 Hedegaard H, Warner M, Miniño AM. Drug overdose deaths in the United States, 1999–2016. NCHS Data Brief, no 294. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2017.
Murphy SL, Kochanek KD, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2021. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 73 no 8. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2024. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc/158787.
Hedegaard H, Warner M, Miniño AM. Drug overdose deaths in the United States, 1999–2016. NCHS Data Brief, no 294. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2017.
CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality File, 2015, last accessed Dec. 11, 2015.
Hedegaard H, Chen LH, Warner M. Drug poisoning deaths involving heroin: United States, 2000–2013. NCHS data brief, no 190. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2015.
Chen LH, Hedegaard H, Warner M. Drug-poisoning deaths involving opioid analgesics: United States, 1999–2011. NCHS data brief no. 166. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2014, p. 1.
Christopher M. Jones, PharmD, Karin A. Mack, PhD, and Leonard J. Paulozzi, MD, "Pharmaceutical Overdose Deaths, United States, 2010," Journal of the American Medical Association, February 20, 2013, Vol 309, No. 7, p. 658.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: 50 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014. Printed with corrections, January 2014, p. 660, Table 12.4
Makary Martin A, Daniel Michael. Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. British Medical Journal 2016; 353 :i2139.
