WYOMING — The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH)’s Vital Statistics Services department has shared that fewer overall deaths, births, marriages and divorces were officially logged across the state in 2023 than in 2022.
In 2023, the deaths of 5,566 Wyoming residents were recorded, down from 5,895 deaths in 2022, according to the VSS death certificate count. In 2021, there were 6,574 deaths; in 2020, there were 5,986 deaths; in 2019, there were 5,122 deaths.
“The COVID-19 pandemic certainly caused some changes in Wyoming’s statistics over the past few years, particularly with increased deaths,” WDH Director Stefan Johansson said in a statement. “However, those pandemic-specific effects do seem to be decreasing.”
According to the WDH, the top five causes of death for Wyomingites last year (in order) were heart diseases, cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and related conditions, various kinds of accidents and cerebrovascular diseases.
Johansson also noted that Wyoming’s high suicide rates remain a concern at the health department, encouraging the use of the 988 suicide hotline for those who need it.
Last year, 157 deaths by suicide were recorded in the state, compared to 155 in 2022. There were 190 in 2021, 182 in 2020 and 170 in 2019. The WDH said about 85% of these suicide deaths were men, also noting that 72% of suicides in 2023 involved firearms.
Drug overdose-related deaths also rose last year for the sixth year in a row, according to WDH. There were 120 overdose deaths in 2023, 110 in 2022, 98 in 2021, 90 in 2020 and 81 in 2019. Opioids were connected to 81% of last year’s overdose deaths; 52 were linked to Fentanyl and 48 were linked to methamphetamine.
On a happier note, there were 5,989 births recorded in the state in 2023. down slightly from 2022’s 6,050. There were 6,238 births in 2021, 6,132 births in 2020 and 6,568 births in 2019.
Marriages were also slightly down, with 4,061 record in 2023 and 4,272 in 2022. There were 4,286 marriages in 2021, 4,016 in 2020 and 4,065 in 2019. Divorce numbers held pretty steadily at 1,955 finalized in 2023 compared to 1,949 finalized in 2022. Before that, there were 1,949 divorces finalized in 2022, 2,166 finalized in 2021, 2,220 finalized in 2020 and 2,241 finalized in 2019.
The WDH notes that these statistical totals are considered provisional at this point, and that minor adjustments and updates to these numbers can be expected over time.
