New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that more Americans died in 2021 than in any other year in the nation’s history, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged and death rates attributed to cancer, diabetes, and strokes rose.
The data published through the end of the third quarter of 2021 shows a death rate of 1,058.8 per 100,000 Americans, a nearly 10% increase over the 12-month period the prior year and a 21% jump from 2019.
The rising rate means nearly 3.5 million Americans died in the 12 months that ended in September 2021, the highest number of deaths ever recorded in the United States in a single year.
Much of the rising death toll was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which cost 415,000 American lives in 2021, a higher figure than during the first year of the outbreak, even though vaccines were widely available for most of the year.
COVID-19 was responsible for more than 1 in 10 deaths in the U.S. last year, the CDC data shows.
Other causes of mortality rose slightly. Chronic liver disease claimed more lives, while deaths from diabetes, heart disease, and strokes increased.
For additional information, read the full article in The Hill.