Despite a 10% decrease in public deaths in 2024, since 1999 preventable injury-related deaths occurring in public places have increased by 100%, totaling 44,500 deaths in 2024. This increase has largely been driven by a 507% increase in poisoning deaths and a 212% increase in fall deaths. The poisoning deaths increase is primarily a result of drug overdoses. The increase in fall deaths reflects a dramatic increase in the number of older adult fall deaths.
Use this interactive chart to explore the trends in preventable injury-related deaths occurring in public places by leading cause of death.
- Chart
- Data Table
National Safety Council (NSC) adopted the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) count for work-related unintentional injuries beginning with 1992 data. This affected long-term historical comparisons for the work, home, and public classes. Beginning with 1999 data, deaths are classified according to the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Caution should be used in comparing current data with data classified under prior revisions. See the Technical Appendix for more information.