Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use - United States, 2016-2021

Abstract

Deaths from causes fully attributable to alcohol use have increased during the past 2 decades in the United States, particularly from 2019 to 2020, concurrent with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, previous studies of trends have not assessed underlying causes of deaths that are partially attributable to alcohol use, such as injuries or certain types of cancer. CDC's Alcohol-Related Disease Impact application was used to estimate the average annual number and age-standardized rate of deaths from excessive alcohol use in the United States based on 58 alcohol-related causes of death during three periods (2016-2017, 2018-2019, and 2020-2021). Average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use increased 29.3%, from 137,927 during 2016-2017 to 178,307 during 2020-2021; age-standardized alcohol-related death rates increased from 38.1 to 47.6 per 100,000 population. During this time, deaths from excessive alcohol use among males increased 26.8%, from 94,362 per year to 119,606, and among females increased 34.7%, from 43,565 per year to 58,701. Implementation of evidence-based policies that reduce the availability and accessibility of alcohol and increase its price (e.g., policies that reduce the number and concentration of places selling alcohol and increase alcohol taxes) could reduce excessive alcohol use and alcohol-related deaths.

FIGURE

Average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use, by age group and period among males (A) and females (B) — United States, 2016–2021 * Deaths from excessive alcohol use includes all decedents whose deaths were attributed to conditions that were fully caused by alcohol use, alcohol-related acute causes of death that involved binge drinking, and alcohol-related chronic conditions that involved medium (females: >1 to ≤2 drinks, males: >2 to ≤4 drinks) or high (females: >2 drinks, males: >4 drinks) daily average drinking levels.