News: U.S. life expectancy increased, mortality decreased in 2023, data shows

Recent data from the National Vital Statistics System shows life expectancy for the United States population increased from 77.5 years in 2022 to 78.4 in 2023; during that same time period, the mortality rate decreased by 6.0% from 798.8 deaths per 100,000 of the standard population to 750.5. Leading causes of death were also determined using ICD-10-CM codes classified from death certificates filed in the U.S.

The data provided in-depth information on mortality patterns among U.S. residents by variables such as sex, age, and race. For example, life expectancy for males increased by a year from 74.8 in 2022 to 75.8 in 2023 and increased for females by ninth-tenths of a year from 80.2 in 2022 to 81.1 in 2023. The age-adjusted death rates also decreased for a variety of race-ethnicity-sex groups, including:

• American Indian and Alaska Native males (rate decreased 11.5% from 1,444.1 deaths to 1,277.7)
• American Indian and Alaska Native females (rate decreased 13.5% from 1,063.6 deaths to 920.3)
• Hispanic males (rate decreased 10.5% from 774.2 deaths to 692.8)
• Hispanic females (rate decreased 7.9% from 512.9 deaths to 472.4)
• Black males (rate decreased 8.8% from 1,263.3 deaths to 1,151.6)
• Black females (rate decreased 7.3% from 813.2 deaths to 753.6)
• Asian males (rate decreased 8.8% from 522.2 deaths to 476.1)
• Asian females (rate decreased 5.7% from 354.9 deaths to 334.6)
• White males (rate decreased 6.7% from 971.9 deaths to 906.4)
• White females (rate decreased 4.2% from 691.9 deaths to 662.8)

The 10 leading causes of death in 2023 remained the same as in 2022, although some causes changed ranks. Heart disease (ICD-10-CM categories I00-I09, I11, I13, I20-I51) and cancer (C00-C97) remained the top two leading causes of death followed by unintentional injuries (V01-X59, Y85-Y86), stroke (I60-I69), chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47), Alzheimer disease (G30), diabetes (E10-E14), kidney disease (N00-N07, N17-N19, N25-N27), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (K70, K73-K74), and COVID-19 (U07.1). These causes of death accounted for 70.9% of all U.S. deaths in 2023. Although the age-adjusted death rate for cancer did not change significantly from 2022 to 2023, the rates decreased for the remaining nine causes.

Data also provided insights into infant mortality occurring in the first year of life. In 2023, the infant mortality rate of 560.2 infant deaths per 100,000 live births did not significantly differ from the rate in 2022 of 560.4 infant deaths. Among the 10 leading causes of infant death for 2023, which accounted for 65.3% of all U.S. infant deaths, the only notable change in infant mortality rate from 2022 to 2023 was a 10.7% decrease for cord and placental complications.

The leading causes include congenital malformations (Q00-Q99), low birth weight (P07), sudden infant death syndrome (R95), unintentional injuries (V01-X59), maternal complications (P01), bacterial sepsis of newborn (P36), cord and placental complications (P02), respiratory distress of newborn (P22), intrauterine hypoxia and birth asphyxia (P20-P21), and diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99).

For more information on the data and results, visit the CDC website.

Editor’s note: This article was previously published in JustCoding.