Arizona, Maricopa County saw death rates rise with COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on with no end in sight, Arizona’s mortality rate continues to rise, including in Maricopa County.

While both the state and county have seen rising death rates since 2017, the numbers skyrocketed in 2020 as the pandemic began to take hold.

In 2017, approximately 57,261 Arizonans died from a variety of causes: cancer, heart disease, accidents, drug overdoses and more, according to data from the Arizona Department of Health Services. That number rose slightly to 59,206 in 2018, and again in 2019 to 60,161 deaths. In 2020, the number of deaths jumped to 75,700; December was the deadliest month that year, with just over 9,000 lives lost. The state’s death rate slightly declined in 2021 with 72,595.