Deaths: preliminary data for 2011

Abstract

Objectives: This report presents preliminary U.S. data on deaths, death rates, life expectancy, leading causes of death, and infant mortality for 2011 by selected characteristics such as age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin.

Methods: Data in this report are based on death records comprising more than 98 percent of the demographic and medical files for all deaths in the United States in 2011. The records are weighted to independent control counts for 2011. Comparisons are made with 2010 final data.

Results: The age-adjusted death rate decreased from 747.0 deaths per 100,000 population in 2010 to 740.6 deaths per 100,000 population in 2011. From 2010 to 2011, age-adjusted death rates decreased significantly for 5 of the 15 leading causes of death: Diseases of heart, Malignant neoplasms, Cerebrovascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis. The age-adjusted death rate increased for six leading causes of death: Chronic lower respiratory diseases, Diabetes mellitus, Influenza and pneumonia, Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, Parkinson's disease, and Pneumonitis due to solids and liquids. Life expectancy remained the same in 2011 as it had been in 2010 at 78.7 years.