COPD Trends Brief: Mortality
View trends and disparities in COPD mortality (deaths) rates and counts, including by age, gender, and race/ethnicity.Leading Causes
- In 2021, 138,825 people died from COPD, making it the sixth overall leading cause of death and the fifth disease-related cause of death, behind heart disease, cancer, COVID-19, accidents, and stroke.
Gender
Differences
- More women than men die from COPD (72,727 versus 66,098), but men are more likely than women to die from the disease (36.8 versus 31.5 per 100,000).
Trends
- The COPD death rate among men decreased 36% from 57.4 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 36.8 in 2021.
- The COPD death rate among women was relatively flat from 1999 through 2017 but has since decreased by 15% to 31.5 in 2021.
Race / Ethnicity
- COPD death rates are highest among white individuals, lowest among Asian or Pacific Islander individuals, and higher among men than women for every racial and ethnic group.
Age
- Both the number and rate of deaths from COPD are much greater among older age groups.
- Most (85%) COPD deaths occur among those age 65 years or older.
- Fortunately, death rates have been decreasing among those in this age group.
- Among those age 55 and older, death rates are decreasing for every ten-year age group, except for those age 85 and older, for whom the rate increased from 1999 to 2017 before decreasing the next four years.