Diabetes-related deaths in the United States have fallen to their lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to newly released figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Preliminary data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics show 26.4 deaths per 100,000 people attributed to diabetes in the third quarter of 2024. That marks a significant decline from the peak of 31.1 per 100,000 recorded in 2021, when diabetes was the eighth leading cause of death nationwide.
The CDC attributes the surge in mortality during the pandemic to multiple factors, including the virus’s severe impact on individuals with preexisting conditions like diabetes. Disruptions to medical care and daily routines also played a role.
“Data show an increase in mortality rates for all people during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Christopher Holliday, director of the CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation. “People with underlying conditions, including diabetes, were more likely to become very sick from COVID-19 and have a higher risk of hospitalization and death.”
In 2021, diabetes-related deaths reached 103,294, up 17% from 2019. By contrast, provisional figures for 2024 list 94,294 such deaths, reflecting a gradual improvement but still above pre-pandemic levels.
Prior to 2020, diabetes deaths had been trending downward despite the disease’s growing prevalence. That was before the rise of new medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, which have drawn significant attention in recent years for their effectiveness.
According to the CDC’s 2023 National Health Interview Survey, nearly 1 in 10 American adults had a diagnosed case of diabetes. However, experts caution that interpreting long-term mortality data remains challenging due to evolving disease definitions and inconsistencies in death certificate reporting.
“Diabetes is a more common contributing cause of death, not the primary underlying cause,” said Elizabeth Selvin, director of the Johns Hopkins Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research. “Most deaths among people with diabetes are cardiovascular and would be counted among the cardiovascular deaths.”
Selvin noted that determining the underlying cause of death often depends on the certifying physician’s judgment, further complicating trend analysis.
While the latest figures show encouraging signs of recovery from the pandemic-era surge, health officials stress that more progress is needed to return to pre-2020 levels and improve disease management nationwide.