The CDC said the nation’s age-adjusted death rate dropped in 2025 even as total deaths rose slightly and influenza and pneumonia returned to the 10 leading causes of death.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The U.S. age-adjusted death rate fell to the lowest level ever recorded in 2025, according to a July 2 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking a broad decline across age groups and both sexes.
The CDC reported that the 2025 age-adjusted death rate was 689.2 deaths per 100,000 people, down 4.6 percent from 2024. The agency calculates the rate using death records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics, along with population data from the U.S. Census.
Although the rate declined, the total number of deaths rose slightly. The United States recorded 3.09 million deaths in 2025, compared with 3.07 million in 2024.
The decline in the death rate was seen across all age groups and among both males and females. Rates also fell across demographic groups except among American Indians and Alaska Natives, Pacific Islanders and Asians.
Farida Ahmad, the report’s lead author, said one factor behind the drop was the continued decline in fatal drug overdoses. Overdose deaths are classified under unintentional injuries, also listed as accidents.
At the same time, deaths from influenza and pneumonia increased sharply. The category rose to 56,511 deaths in 2025, a 17 percent increase that moved influenza and pneumonia back into the nation’s 10 leading causes of death.
“The flu season, especially in January and February of 2025, was severe, leading to a lot of flu deaths,” Ahmad said.
The CDC has said influenza-related hospitalizations and outpatient visits reached a 15-year high during the virus season that began in late 2024 and continued into early 2025.
Ahmad said severe flu seasons in previous years have been connected with higher deaths from chronic diseases. She said the 2025 flu season may also have contributed to the approximately 1.6 percent increase in heart disease deaths.
Heart disease remained the leading cause of death in 2025, with 694,708 deaths. Cancer ranked second with 622,832 deaths, followed by unintentional injuries with 184,265 deaths, stroke with 171,427 deaths and chronic lower respiratory diseases with 148,408 deaths.
The remaining leading causes were Alzheimer disease, which accounted for 116,794 deaths; diabetes, with 95,229 deaths; influenza and pneumonia, with 56,511 deaths; kidney disease, with 55,378 deaths; and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, with 51,941 deaths.
The only change from the 2024 list of leading causes was that influenza and pneumonia replaced suicide in the top 10.
Deaths increased sharply with age, according to the report. In 2025, there were 19,270 deaths among infants younger than 1 year old; 3,525 deaths among children ages 1 to 4; 5,658 deaths among those ages 5 to 14; and 27,750 deaths among people ages 15 to 24.
Among adults, there were 51,738 deaths among people ages 25 to 34; 92,643 among those ages 35 to 44; 152,789 among those ages 45 to 54; and 347,568 among those ages 55 to 64.
The highest death totals were recorded among older Americans. There were 639,457 deaths among people ages 65 to 74, 853,780 among those ages 75 to 84 and 900,375 among those 85 and older. The age was unknown in 40 deaths.
By sex, males accounted for 1.6 million deaths in 2025, while females accounted for 1.48 million.
By race and ethnicity, white Americans accounted for 2.3 million deaths. Black Americans accounted for 382,579 deaths, Hispanics for 264,758, Asians for 90,681, American Indians and Alaska Natives for 20,918, people of more than one race for 17,082 and Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders for 4,625. Race or ethnicity was unknown in 12,728 deaths.
The CDC had reported in January that U.S. life expectancy reached a record high in 2024.
The agency cautioned that the 2025 figures are not final. While 2024 mortality data has been finalized, the 2025 numbers remain provisional and could change.
The preliminary data “should be interpreted with caution and may change with final mortality or population estimates, or both,” the report authors said.
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