Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 9;70(14):519-522.
doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7014e1.

Provisional Mortality Data - United States, 2020

Farida B Ahmad  1 , Jodi A Cisewski  1 , Arialdi Miniño  1 , Robert N Anderson  1
Affiliations

Provisional Mortality Data - United States, 2020

Farida B Ahmad et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Erratum in

  • Erratum: Vol. 70, No. 14.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021 Jun 18;70(24):900. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7024a4. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021. PMID: 34138830 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

CDC's National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) collects and reports annual mortality statistics using data from U.S. death certificates. Because of the time needed to investigate certain causes of death and to process and review data, final annual mortality data for a given year are typically released 11 months after the end of the calendar year. Daily totals reported by CDC COVID-19 case surveillance are timely but can underestimate numbers of deaths because of incomplete or delayed reporting. As a result of improvements in timeliness and the pressing need for updated, quality data during the global COVID-19 pandemic, NVSS expanded provisional data releases to produce near real-time U.S. mortality data.* This report presents an overview of provisional U.S. mortality data for 2020, including the first ranking of leading causes of death. In 2020, approximately 3,358,814 deaths† occurred in the United States. From 2019 to 2020, the estimated age-adjusted death rate increased by 15.9%, from 715.2 to 828.7 deaths per 100,000 population. COVID-19 was reported as the underlying cause of death or a contributing cause of death for an estimated 377,883 (11.3%) of those deaths (91.5 deaths per 100,000). The highest age-adjusted death rates by age, race/ethnicity, and sex occurred among adults aged ≥85 years, non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons, and males. COVID-19 death rates were highest among adults aged ≥85 years, AI/AN and Hispanic persons, and males. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in 2020, after heart disease and cancer. Provisional death estimates provide an early indication of shifts in mortality trends and can guide public health policies and interventions aimed at reducing numbers of deaths that are directly or indirectly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Provisional number of COVID-19–related deaths and other deaths, by week — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2020 * National Vital Statistics System provisional data are incomplete. Data from December are less complete due to reporting lags. Deaths that occurred in the United States among residents of U.S. territories and foreign countries were excluded. † Deaths with confirmed or presumed COVID-19 as an underlying or contributing cause of death, with International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision code U07.1.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Provisional number of leading underlying causes of death — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2020 * National Vital Statistics System provisional data are incomplete. Data from December are less complete due to reporting lags. Deaths that occurred in the United States among residents of U.S. territories and foreign countries were excluded. † Deaths for which COVID-19 was a contributing, but not the underlying, cause of death are not included in this figure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, tenth revision (ICD-10). 2008. ed. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2009. https://icd.who.int/browse10/2008/en
    1. National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System. Instruction manual, part 2a: instructions for classifying underlying and multiple causes of death, ICD-10. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/instruction-manuals.htm
    1. CDC. Technical notes: provisional death counts for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/tech_notes.htm
    1. Heron M. Deaths: leading causes for 2017. Natl Vital Stat Rep 2019;68:1–77. - PubMed
    1. US Census Bureau. National population by characteristics: 2010–2019. Washington, DC: US Census Bureau; 2021. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-nationa...

MeSH terms