COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States last year, and deaths from COVID-19 increased by 1% in 2021 over 2020, according to new data from the National Vital Statistics System released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Only heart disease and cancer killed more Americans than COVID-19, with provisional death tolls from each cause totaling 693,000, 605,000, and 415,000, respectively. Those were also the three leading killers in 2020.

Approximately 60,000 more people died from COVID-19 in 2021 than the first year of the pandemic. In both years, the death rates from COVID-19 were highest in Americans ages 85 and older.

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