Final 2000 Mortality Statistics Now Available

For Release: September 16, 2002

Contact: NCHS/CDC Public Affairs, (301) 458-4800

E-mail: paoquery@cdc.gov

Deaths: Leading Causes for 2000. NVSR Vol. 50, No. 16. 86 pp. (PHS) 2002-1120. pdf icon[PDF – 6.3 MB]

Deaths: Final Data for 2000. NVSR Vol. 50, No. 15. 120 pp. (PHS) 2002-1120. pdf icon[PDF – 8.1 MB]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics has released final 2000 mortality statistics for the United States in two new reports available today. “Deaths: Final Data for 2000” and “Deaths: Leading Causes for 2000” feature a comprehensive breakdown of data for the year 2000. Some of the highlights from the two reports include:

• The age-adjusted death rate in the United States reached an all-time low in 2000 of 872 deaths per 100,000 population.
• Life expectancy reached a record high of 76.9 years at birth.
• Three out of four deaths for young people aged 15-24 are injury-related, either from unintentional injuries, suicide, or homicide.
• Nearly 20,000 Americans died of drug-induced causes in 2000 and another 20,000 died of alcohol-induced causes.
• 5,430 Americans died from injuries suffered while at work. The age-adjusted death rate for injuries at work decreased nearly 4 percent between 1999 and 2000.
• A total of 28,663 people died from firearms in 2000. Among those aged 19 and under, the number of firearm deaths decreased by more than 10 percent compared with 1999.
• A total of 14,478 people died from HIV/AIDS in 2000. The age-adjusted death rate from HIV declined nearly 2 percent between 1999 and 2000.
• HIV ranks 5th among the leading causes of death for all persons between the ages of 35 and 44, but 2nd among Hispanic males of that age group and 1st among African-American males of that age.
• Cancer is the leading cause of death in the Asian/Pacific Islander population, and is second after heart disease for the white, black, and American Indian population.

The two reports are available at the CDC/NCHS Website. Preliminary mortality data for 2001 will be available in fall 2002.

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