The 10 leading causes of death in the United States in 2023, by number of deaths, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS Data Brief No. 521).
Quick answer: 1. Heart disease, 2. Cancer (malignant neoplasms), 3. Accidents (unintentional injuries), 4. Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases), 5. Chronic lower respiratory diseases, 6. Alzheimer disease, 7. Diabetes mellitus, 8. Kidney disease (nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis), 9. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, 10. COVID-19.
This list shows the 10 leading causes of death in the United States for 2023, ranked by the number of deaths recorded. The figures are underlying-cause-of-death counts published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), based on death certificates filed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. According to the CDC, a total of 3,090,964 deaths were registered in the United States in 2023, and these 10 causes together accounted for 70.9% of them. This page is purely informational and reports only what the official data states.
According to the CDC, diseases of the heart were the leading cause of death in the United States in 2023, with 680,981 deaths. This was the most of any cause and made up more than a fifth of all deaths that year.
The CDC reports 613,352 deaths from cancer (malignant neoplasms) in the United States in 2023, ranking it the second leading cause of death. Together with heart disease, it accounted for roughly two-fifths of all deaths.
According to the CDC, accidents (unintentional injuries) caused 222,698 deaths in the United States in 2023, the third leading cause. NCHS reports this as a grouped category that includes causes such as unintentional poisonings, motor vehicle crashes, and falls.
The CDC reports 162,639 deaths from stroke (cerebrovascular diseases) in the United States in 2023, ranking it the fourth leading cause of death.
According to the CDC, chronic lower respiratory diseases caused 145,357 deaths in the United States in 2023, the fifth leading cause. NCHS reports this as a grouped category that includes conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The CDC reports 114,034 deaths from Alzheimer disease in the United States in 2023, ranking it the sixth leading cause of death.
According to the CDC, diabetes mellitus caused 95,190 deaths in the United States in 2023, ranking it the seventh leading cause of death.
The CDC reports 55,253 deaths from kidney disease (nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis) in the United States in 2023, ranking it the eighth leading cause of death.
According to the CDC, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis caused 52,222 deaths in the United States in 2023, ranking it the ninth leading cause of death.
The CDC reports 49,932 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States in 2023, ranking it the tenth leading cause of death. NCHS notes that COVID-19 fell from the fourth leading cause in 2022 to the tenth in 2023.
| # | Name | Deaths | Share of all deaths | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heart disease | 680981 | 22.0% | Chronic disease |
| 2 | Cancer (malignant neoplasms) | 613352 | 19.8% | Chronic disease |
| 3 | Accidents (unintentional injuries) | 222698 | 7.2% | Injury |
| 4 | Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases) | 162639 | 5.3% | Chronic disease |
| 5 | Chronic lower respiratory diseases | 145357 | 4.7% | Chronic disease |
| 6 | Alzheimer disease | 114034 | 3.7% | Chronic disease |
| 7 | Diabetes mellitus | 95190 | 3.1% | Chronic disease |
| 8 | Kidney disease (nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis) | 55253 | 1.8% | Chronic disease |
| 9 | Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis | 52222 | 1.7% | Chronic disease |
| 10 | COVID-19 | 49932 | 1.6% | Infectious disease |
Causes are ranked by the number of deaths in the United States in 2023 (rank 1 = most deaths), using underlying-cause-of-death counts from the CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System as published in NCHS Data Brief No. 521, 'Mortality in the United States, 2023.' Causes follow the standard NCHS list of rankable causes; 'Accidents (unintentional injuries)' and 'Chronic lower respiratory diseases' are grouped categories as defined by NCHS. The metric is the death count for each cause; the total of 3,090,964 deaths is used to compute each cause's share of all deaths.
The figures are final 2023 data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), published in NCHS Data Brief No. 521, 'Mortality in the United States, 2023,' and the National Vital Statistics Report 'Deaths: Leading Causes for 2023.' They are based on death certificates filed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
According to the CDC, causes are ranked by the number of deaths for which each was recorded as the underlying cause of death. This list is ordered from the most deaths (rank 1) to the fewest among the top 10.
The CDC reports that a total of 3,090,964 deaths were registered in the United States in 2023. The 10 leading causes together accounted for 70.9% of all deaths.
According to the CDC, COVID-19 was the tenth leading cause of death in 2023 with 49,932 deaths, down from the fourth leading cause in 2022. NCHS reported that COVID-19 deaths declined substantially between 2022 and 2023.