The overall U.S. firearm homicide and firearm suicide rates in 2021 hit record high in nearly three decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday.

An estimated 20,966 firearm homicides and 26,320 firearm suicides occurred in the United States during 2021, with each rising by 8.3 percent year on year, according to the agency's research.

The overall U.S. firearm homicide and firearm suicide rates in 2021 were the highest documented since 1993 and 1990, respectively, it said.

Non-Hispanic Black or African American persons continued to experience the highest firearm homicide rates in every age group, noted the CDC.

The firearm homicide rate among Black youngsters and young adults in 2020 was already 20 times higher than among white young people, according to an analysis of the New York Times. In 2021, the gap widened as gun homicides among white youngsters decreased slightly, and the rate of firearm homicides among Black young people is now almost 25 times as high, said the newspaper.

Multiple social and structural conditions are associated with risk for homicide and suicide, said the CDC, though it made it clear that the analysis cannot directly explain the reasons for the increases among some racial and ethnic groups.

"Systemic inequities (e.g., in economic, educational, housing, and employment opportunities) and structural racism have contributed to disparities in outcomes, and the COVID-19 pandemic could have worsened these conditions, especially in some racial and ethnic communities," the CDC said in the report.

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(Cover: An exhibit booth for firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson is seen on display at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 26, 2015. /Reuters)