In 2020, alcohol-induced causes were recorded as the underlying cause of death for 11,616 adults aged 65 and over (1). Although these deaths comprise less than 1% of all deaths in this age group, age-adjusted death rates for alcohol-induced causes have been increasing since 2011 and rose by 18.2% from 2019 (17.0 deaths per 100,000 standard population) to 2020 (20.1).

This report presents death rates for alcohol-induced deaths in 2019 and 2020 for the population aged 65 and over by age group, sex, and race and Hispanic origin. From 2019 to 2020, alcohol-induced death rates increased for both men and women aged 65–74 and 75 and over (Figure 1). For men aged 65–74, rates increased from 36.5 deaths per 100,000 population to 43.4, while rates for men aged 75 and over increased from 19.8 to 21.5. Death rates for women increased from 10.2 to 12.9 for those aged 65–74, and from 4.4 to 5.3 for those aged 75 and over. Alcohol-induced death rates were higher for men than women in 2020—3.4 times higher for age group 65–74 and 4.1 times higher for 75 and over. In 2020, age-adjusted rates of alcohol-induced deaths in adults aged 65 and over were highest for non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) adults (55.1 deaths per 100,000 standard population), followed by rates for Hispanic (23.1), non-Hispanic White (20.7), non-Hispanic Black (17.6), and non-Hispanic Asian (4.7) adults (Figure 2). From 2019 to 2020, age-adjusted rates increased by 9.5% for Hispanic adults, 46.5% for non-Hispanic AIAN adults, 19.7% for non-Hispanic Black adults, and 19.0% for non-Hispanic White adults. The change in death rates for non-Hispanic Asian adults was not statistically significant.