U.S. death rate falls to record low as overdoses decline

The United States posted its lowest death rate on record in 2025 as overdose deaths fell for a third straight year, driving a broad decline in mortality that reached every age group and both men and women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics put deaths at 3,094,593 last year and the age-adjusted death rate at 689.2 per 100,000, down 4.6% from 2024.

Heart disease remained the leading cause of death, with 694,708 deaths, followed by cancer at 622,832 and unintentional injuries at 184,265. Influenza and pneumonia rose to the eighth leading cause of death in 2025, while suicide slipped from 10th to 11th. COVID-19 had already fallen out of the top 10 in the 2024 final mortality file, underscoring how far the nation’s mortality profile has moved from the pandemic peak.

The CDC put drug overdose deaths at 69,973 in 2025, almost 14% fewer than the 81,313 in 2024. That was the third consecutive annual decline. The CDC put fentanyl-involved deaths at 38,084, down from 48,913 a year earlier.

Rhode Island, New York, North Carolina, Alabama and Vermont each saw overdose-death declines of 25% or more, while New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado posted increases of 10% or more.

In January, the CDC said U.S. life expectancy at birth reached 79 years in 2024, the highest ever recorded. The overdose death rate fell 26.2% from 2023 to 2024, from 31.3 to 23.1 per 100,000, after the official count dropped to 79,384 deaths.

The 2025 numbers remain provisional, based on a snapshot of records received. About 5% of death records are initially filed with the cause of death pending investigation, which can shift counts for overdoses and other external causes before final files are released.