U.S. life expectancy rose last year to its highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, while death rates fell for almost all the top causes, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
Life expectancy at birth was 78.4 years for the total U.S. population in 2023, according to the report released Thursday, an increase of nearly a full year from 77.5 years in 2022.
The report showed women continue to live longer than men. For males, life expectancy increased a full year to nearly 76 in 2023. For females, life expectancy was a little over 81 years in 2023.
But while it’s rebounded, life expectancy hasn’t yet reached pre-pandemic levels after it fell off sharply from 78.8 years in 2019 to 76.4 in 2021.
Death rates are also falling. In 2023, about 3.1 million deaths were registered in the United States, about 189,000 fewer deaths than in 2022.
The top five causes of death last year were heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, stroke and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Death rates fell for nine of the top 10 causes in 2023, while the rate of cancer deaths was largely unchanged.
The number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 dropped significantly last year. The virus went from being the 4th leading cause in 2022 to the 10th leading cause in 2023. It was the underlying cause of more than 186,000 deaths in 2022, falling to just under 50,000 last year.
The report also analyzed death rates by race, gender and ethnicity, finding variations across different groups.
The most significant death rate decreases were among Hispanic men and women — 10.5 percent for males and 8 percent for Hispanic females — as well as American Indian and Alaska Natives, who saw an 11.5 percent decrease for males and 13.5 percent for females.
The report data reflect information collected by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics from death certificates filed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.