Prime Age Mortality up 40 Percent; Majority of Deaths Not From COVID-19

Workers load the casket into a hearse at East County Mortuary in El Cajon, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2021. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Mortality among young-to-middle-age Americans went through the roof last year. The majority of the increase didn’t involve COVID-19, according to official death certificate data.

Deaths among people aged 18 to 49 increased more than 40 percent in the 12 months ending October 2021 compared to the same period in 2018–2019, before the pandemic, based on death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).