The COVID-19 pandemic pushed total U.S. deaths last year beyond 3.3 million, the nation's highest-ever annual death toll, the government reported Wednesday.

The coronavirus caused approximately 375,000 deaths, and was the third leading cause of death in 2020, after heart disease and cancer. COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now top 550,000 since the start of the pandemic.

 COVID-19 displaced suicide as one of the top 10 causes of death, according to Wednesday's report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overall, the year's death rate was up nearly 16% compared to the previous year.

Death rates overall were highest among Black people and American Indian and Alaska Native people. The COVID-19 death rate was highest among Hispanic people.