The US death rate hit its lowest level on record last year, having fallen by a fifth in a quarter-century. A collapse of drug overdose deaths was the main driver: Such fatalities were 14% down from 2024 to 69,973, a third consecutive annual fall, suggesting the country’s decade-long opioid crisis might be waning.
Deaths from influenza rose slightly, partly due to an unusually virulent strain circulating last year, although falling vaccination rates may also have contributed, The Wall Street Journal reported. But overdoses are the biggest killer of younger people, and the change will likely have boosted US life expectancy — determined by death rates at all age groups — to another record, CNN noted.