<\/a>The report also found that overall deaths fell from 3.09 million in 2023 to 3.07 million in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAdditionally, the report showed the three leading causes of death stayed the same from 2023 to 2024, with heart disease as the leading cause, followed by cancer and unintentional injury, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suicide replaced COVID-19 as the 10th leading underlying cause of death, knocking the disease off the top 10 list for the first time since 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“‘It’s pretty noteworthy that COVID-19 fell off the top 10 and suicide, which had been had fallen off in recent years, is \u2026 ranked again,” Farida Ahmad, corresponding author of the report and health scientist at NCHS, told ABC News. “I think that’s a pretty interesting finding given where we spent the last five years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahmad said fewer deaths from COVID in 2024 compared to 2023 may be a reason behind the 3.8% decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Ever since it came onto the scene in 2020, COVID was one of the top 10 leading causes of death,” Ahmad said. “It started off as a third-leading cause and, in 2024, we see that it’s not ranked at all, actually. So, it’s still among the 15 leading causes, but not in the top 10.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Sharonne Hayes, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, agreed that fewer cases of COVID-19 are likely driving the reduction in mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think there’s a little less COVID, right? I mean, that’s part of it,” she told ABC News. “I think that the pandemic was such a time of both COVID-related deaths, but also just rising risk factors, particularly around cardiovascular disease, people’s lifestyles were less healthy. And maybe we are coming back to more of where we are before.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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