The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the biggest causes of mortality in 2023.

The report, published by the agency on Aug. 8, was based on death records from the National Vital Statistics System.

A total of 3,090,582 deaths occurred in the U.S. in 2023, a decline of 6.1% compared to 2022, the report stated.

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"The overall death rate is decreasing," Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, told Fox News Digital.

"The key change is decreased deaths from COVID as the population builds up more immunity."

COVID was the fourth leading cause of mortality in 2022, linked to 245,614 deaths. 

It plummeted to the 10th cause in 2023, with 76,446 deaths.

Death rates were highest among the elderly, males and Black people, Siegel noted.

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"This is not a surprise because of increasing risks in these groups, including high blood pressure and heart disease," he said.

Considering demographic groups, overall death rates were lowest among "non-Hispanic multiracial" and highest among "non-Hispanic Black or African American persons," the report confirmed.

Below are the top 10 leading underlying causes of death in the U.S., as compiled by the CDC using data from the National Vital Statistics System.

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There were some limitations in the study, the CDC acknowledged.

"Data are provisional, and numbers and rates might change as additional information is received," the agency wrote in the report.

The actual death count may be higher in some categories due to a lag time in reporting.

Different jurisdictions may also submit death certificates on varying timelines, the agency noted.

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There is also the "potential for misclassification" among certain races and ethnicities, per the report, so that "death rates for some groups might be underestimated or overestimated."

Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC and additional physicians for comment.

Brittney Griner was among the WNBA players who spoke out about the national anthem in 2020 amid a summer of racial unrest following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Griner said in 2020 that the WNBA shouldn't play the national anthem, adding the league should "take that much of stand." She also walked off the court before the anthem was played before a game that season.

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But since then, Griner has gone through tumult. She was imprisoned for nearly 10 months in Russia after she was arrested on drug charges in February 2022. The U.S. and Russia would agree to a prisoner swap and the ordeal seemed to change Griner’s stance about what "The Star-Spangled Banner" means to the country.

Griner was seen with the gold medal around her neck after the U.S. women’s basketball team defeated France at the Paris Olympics and in tears as the anthem blared.

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"I didn't think I would be here," she said of the 2024 Paris Olympics, via Reuters. "And then to be here and winning gold for my country, representing when my country fought for me so hard to even be standing here. This gold medal is going to hold a special place among the other two I was fortunate to win."

A’ja Wilson called Griner a "warrior" as she described the Phoenix Mercury center’s time with Team USA more than two years after her arrest abroad.

U.S. head coach Chery Reeve added that Griner was "grateful" to be with Team USA.

"She was so thankful to be here... I think we all should just keep checking on her because it's unfathomable what she went through," Reeve said.

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