Question: How many deaths did the US experience in 2020 and how does it compare with previous years?

Answer: We’ve talked about excess deaths in previous posts (see Q&A of 8/24), but it’s been many months since we’ve revisited the topic.  Using data from CDC, I pulled together a simple table to show how total deaths have changed year-to-year since 2015 (Table 1).  Deaths counts from 2020 are still not finalized, but as you’ll see from these provisional numbers, the United States experienced 3,358,549 deaths in 2020, which is 506,224 more deaths than experienced in 2019 (an 18% increase).  According to CDC’s estimates, at least 377,650 deaths last year involved COVID-19.  At least 555,996 deaths involved either COVID, pneumonia, or influenza.   

Table 1. Yearly trends in all-cause mortality in the USA (2015-2020)