Gun-related deaths among children and teens in the U.S. surged by 50% in two years, according to a Pew Research Center analysis released this week.

Before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019, the number of gun-related deaths among American children and adolescents younger than 18 years old was 1,732, it said.

But by 2021, this number had risen significantly to 2,590.

"The gun death rate among children and teens rose from 2.4 fatalities per 100,000 minor residents in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 two years later, a 46% increase," according to the analysis.

The Pew Research Center conducted the analysis in the wake of a fatal school shooting on March 27 in Nashville, Tennessee which killed six people, including three children.

The number and rate of children and teens killed by gunfire in 2021 were higher than at any point since at least 1999, said the center.

The Pew Research Center analyzed the latest annual mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).