--- title: "US Death Rate Falls to a Record Low as Overdose Deaths Keep Dropping" description: "Americans died at the lowest rate on record in 2025, new federal data show, as a steep, sustained decline in drug-overdose deaths helped push mortality below even its pre-pandemic level. The provisional figures point to a nation still recovering from the shocks of COVID-19 and the opioid crisis — and, health officials say, making real progress." category: "U.S." category_url: https://herald.la/category/us author: "Gabriela Soto" published: 2026-07-02T21:38:31.000Z updated: 2026-07-02T21:38:31.000Z canonical: https://herald.la/article/us-death-rate-falls-to-a-record-low-as-overdose-deaths-keep-dropping tags: ["health", "CDC", "mortality", "overdose deaths", "public health"] --- # US Death Rate Falls to a Record Low as Overdose Deaths Keep Dropping Americans died at the lowest rate on record in 2025, new federal data show, as a steep, sustained decline in drug-overdose deaths helped push mortality below even its pre-pandemic level. The provisional figures point to a nation still recovering from the shocks of COVID-19 and the opioid crisis — and, health officials say, making real progress. The country just recorded its lowest death rate in modern history — a milestone that reflects, above all, how far the United States has come from two overlapping crises: the pandemic and the opioid epidemic. ## The number The age-adjusted death rate — the standard measure that accounts for the population's changing age — fell to about 689 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025, the lowest on record, [CNN reported](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/02/health/us-death-rate-record-low-cdc-report-longevity), citing provisional data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. That is down roughly 4.6% from 2024, about 22% below the pandemic peak in 2021, and lower even than 2019, the last full year before COVID-19. Because the rate is age-adjusted, the improvement is not simply a matter of a younger population; it reflects a real decline in the risk of dying. The figures are provisional and will be revised as final records are tallied, but the direction is clear. ## What's driving it The single biggest factor, experts say, is the continued collapse in overdose deaths. Drug-overdose fatalities fell again in 2025 — down roughly 14% from the year before, to about 70,000, [according to the CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/releases/20260513.html) — the third straight annual decline and the longest sustained drop in decades. As recently as 2022, the toll was well over 100,000. Researchers credit a mix of causes: the wider availability of naloxone, the medication that reverses opioid overdoses; expanded access to addiction treatment; shifts in the illicit drug supply; and billions of dollars in opioid-settlement money now reaching public-health programs. The improvement has been broad, with most states recording declines. ## What still kills the most The leading causes of death have not changed. Heart disease remained No. 1, followed by cancer; together they account for the largest share of American deaths. Unintentional injuries — a category that includes overdoses — ranked third. Notably, COVID-19 has fallen out of the top 10 causes nationally, a sharp reversal from the pandemic years when it ranked among the deadliest. Men continue to die at a higher age-adjusted rate than women, a long-standing gap. ## The bigger picture Officials have not yet released final 2025 life-expectancy figures, but demographers say a record-low death rate strongly suggests life expectancy will hit a new high when the numbers are published. In 2024, U.S. life expectancy stood at about 79 years, having already rebounded from its pandemic-era lows. The data comes with the usual cautions — it is preliminary, and a single good year does not undo the toll of the past decade. But after years dominated by grim records, the latest numbers describe something different: a country that, by its broadest measure of health, is moving in the right direction. ## Sources - [US death rate falls to record low as life expectancy set to rise](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/02/health/us-death-rate-record-low-cdc-report-longevity) - [U.S. Overdose Deaths Decrease for Third Consecutive Year in 2025](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/releases/20260513.html) - [NVSS — Mortality Data](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/deaths.htm)