Death rates stay elevated in young and middle-aged adults

Mortality shot up in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19 and the introduction of fentanyl into the illicit drug supply, then slowly dropped over the following years. Older people are dying at rates similar to what their age groups experienced before the pandemic, but young and middle-aged adults are still making up ground. Children’s death rates tend to fluctuate year to year, because relatively few people die before reaching adulthood.

Change in death rate by age group