- Topics›
- Dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the United States›
Disease & Mortality
Even though new cancer cases in the U.S. are projected to cross the two-million mark for the first time ever in 2024, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Apart from afflictions related to these diseases, Covid-19 claimed the third-highest number of lives in 2021. While there is more recent data, 2021 is currently the latest year with full, final data on mortality in the country.
Other prevalent causes of death in the U.S. include accidents, strokes and respiratory diseases, which were responsible for 64.7, 41.1. and 34.7 deaths per 100,000 of the population, respectively. Alzheimer's disease, which might become more significant in aging societies over the next couple of decades, ranked seventh with 31 deaths per 100,000 population and a share of 3.4 percent in overall deaths registered by the CDC.
In total, around 3.5 million deaths were registered in the United States in 2021, up by 80,000 compared to 2020. This increase in number of deaths comes on the heels of a drop in life expectancy in the country. According to CDC data, life expectancy at birth in 2021 dropped by 0.6 years for women and 0.7 years for men year-over-year.
Florian Zandt
Data Journalist
florian.zandt@statista.com
Description
This chart shows the number of people who died from the leading causes of death in the United States.
Report
Related Infographics
FAQ
The Statista "Chart of the Day", made available under the Creative Commons License CC BY-ND 3.0, may be used and displayed without charge by all commercial and non-commercial websites. Use is, however, only permitted with proper attribution to Statista. When publishing one of these graphics, please include a backlink to the respective infographic URL. More Information
The Statista "Chart of the Day" currently focuses on two sectors: "Media and Technology", updated daily and featuring the latest statistics from the media, internet, telecommunications and consumer electronics industries; and "Economy and Society", which current data from the United States and around the world relating to economic and political issues as well as sports and entertainment.
For individual content and infographics in your Corporate Design, please visit our agency website www.statista.design
Any more questions?
Get in touch with us quickly and easily.
We are happy tohelp!
Do you still have questions?
Feel free to contact us anytime using our contact form or visit our FAQ page.
Your contact to the Infographics Newsroom
Felix Richter
Data Journalist
felix.richter@statista.com +49 (40) 284 841 557
Statista Content & Design
Need infographics, animated videos, presentations, data research or social media charts?
The Statista Infographic Newsletter
Receive a new up-to-date issue every day for free
- Our infographics team prepares current information in a clear and understandable format
- Relevant facts covering media, economy, e-commerce, and FMCG topics
- Use our newsletter overview to manage the topics that you have subscribed to
