Black Americans still have a higher death rate over all than whites, but the gap is closing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Tuesday.

Black Americans who live to 65 may now expect to live longer than whites of the same age, the federal researchers also found.

The narrowing gap in death rates first emerged at the start of this century, and it shows no signs of abating. Both black and white Americans are living longer, but the death rate among blacks has been dropping faster than that among whites.

In fact, heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, now kills blacks and whites at about the same rates.