In 2017, 9% of all deaths were due to external causes. The percentage of deaths due to external causes was highest for those aged 15–24 years (79%) and lowest for those aged <1 year (8%) and aged >65 years (3%) at death. Among those aged 1–14 years, 44% of deaths were due to external causes, compared with 54% for those aged 25–44 years and 13% for those aged 45–65 years.
Source: National Vital Statistics System. Underlying cause of death data, 2017. https://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html.
For more information on this topic, CDC recommends the following link: https://www.cdc.gov/injury/.
Footnotes
External causes of death include intentional and unintentional injury, poisoning (including drug overdose), and complication of medical or surgical care and are identified with International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes V01–Y89 and U01–U03.
† Deaths for which an age could not be determined are included in “All ages” but are not included among the age groups given.