Nearly 107,000 OD deaths last year
Life expectancy continues to fall
Nearly 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, according to final figures released Thursday.
The official number was 106,699, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
That is nearly 16% higher than the nearly 92,000 overdose deaths in 2020.
Earlier, provisional data suggested there were more than 107,000 overdose deaths last year. The numbers may have changed as some additional death records have come in, a CDC spokesman said. Also, provisional data includes all overdose deaths, while the final numbers are limited to U.S. residents, he noted.
While deaths caused by cocaine and methamphetamine rose in 2021, the steepest hike in overdose deaths, at 22%, was attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
The new figures indicate that drug fatalities have risen fivefold over the last two decades, the CDC said.
The CDC on Thursday also released a final report for overall U.S. deaths in 2021.
As previously reported, more than 3.4 million Americans died that year, or more than 80,000 than the year before.
Accidental injuries, which include drug overdoses, was the fourthleading cause of death, after heart disease, cancer
and COVID-19. Life expectancy fell to about 76 years, 5 months, more than half a year shorter than it was in 2020. It was the lowest such figure since 1996 and follows roughly a decade of stagnation in adding years to our lifespans.
The numbers mark the second consecutive year of decline in average life expectancy, a streak that hasn’t happened in more than a century.
The pandemic has played a major role in that trend. COVID-19 deaths increased from 350,831 in 2020 to 416,893 in 2021.
Considering deaths from all causes, the age-adjusted mortality rate for Americans last year was 879.7 deaths per 100,000 people, up 5.3% from 2020.
For every age group, death rates continued to
be highest among Black and Latino men, and among men and women who identify as American Indian/ Alaska Native. However, 2021 saw a notable improvement in the health of Black and Latino populations relative to white Americans.
After researchers accounted
for age, they found that white women and men were more likely to die in 2021 than they were in 2020. By contrast, Black and Latino men were less likely to die last year than the year before, and death rates for women in both groups held steady.