 COVID-19
pandemic cut life expectancy by most since World War Two –study
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[September 27, 2021]
By Victor Jack
LONDON (Reuters) - The COVID-19 pandemic
reduced life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since World War
Two, according to a study published on Monday by Oxford University, with
the life expectancy of American men dropping by more than two years.
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 Life expectancy fell by more than six months compared with 2019 in
22 of the 29 countries analysed in the study, which spanned Europe,
the United States and Chile. There were reductions in life
expectancy in 27 of the 29 countries overall.
The university said most life expectancy reductions across different
countries could be linked to official COVID-19 deaths. There have
been nearly 5 million reported deaths caused by the new coronavirus
so far, a Reuters tally shows.
"The fact that our results highlight such a large impact that is
directly attributable to COVID-19 shows how devastating a shock it
has been for many countries," said Dr Ridhi Kashyap, co-lead author
of the paper, published in the International Journal of
Epidemiology.
There were greater drops in life expectancy for men than women in
most countries, with the largest decline in American men, who saw
life expectancy drop by 2.2 years relative to 2019.
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 Overall, men had more than a
year shaved off in 15 countries, compared to
women in 11 countries. That wiped out the
progress on mortality that had been made in the
previous 5.6 years.
In the United States, the rise in mortality was
mainly among those of working age and those
under 60, while in Europe, deaths among people
aged over 60 contributed more significantly to
the increase in mortality.
Kashyap appealed to more countries, including
low- and middle-income nations, to make
mortality data available for further studies.
“We urgently call for the publication and
availability of more disaggregated data to
better understand the impacts of the pandemic
globally,” she said.
(Reporting by Victor Jack; Editing by Alistair
Smout and David Gregorio)
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