COVID drives down U.S. life expectancy for the second straight year -
CDC data
Send a link to a friend
[August 31, 2022]
By Amruta Khandekar and Raghav Mahobe
(Reuters) - Life expectancy fell in the
United States in 2021 for the second year in a row to its lowest level
since 1996, driven by COVID-19 deaths, according to provisional
government data published on Wednesday.
The nearly one-year decline from 2020 to 76.1 years marked the largest
two-year drop in life expectancy at birth in close to a century, the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found.
Disparity in life expectancy between men and women also widened last
year to the highest in over two decades, with men now expected to live
73.2 years, nearly six fewer years than women.
Deaths from COVID-19 contributed to half of the overall decline in life
expectancy last year, with drug overdoses and heart disease also major
contributors, the data showed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/31/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
COVID-19 was associated with more than 460,000 U.S. deaths in 2021,
according to the CDC.
In 2020, U.S. life expectancy saw its biggest one-year drop since World
War Two, with COVID-related deaths contributing nearly 75% to the
decline.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/083122PIX/health13.jpg)
A general view of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta,
Georgia September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Tami Chappell/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/31/images/ads/current/graue_21BLAZER_081621.png) "Mortality's been a little better in
2022 than it was in 2020, so I think it's likely that we would see
maybe a slight increase in life expectancy," said Robert Anderson,
chief of mortality statistics at CDC's National Center for Health
Statistics.
However, life expectancy this year will likely not return to
pre-pandemic levels, and a lot rides on what happens toward the end
of the year as deaths typically rise during winter months, Anderson
said.
While deaths from suicide had decreased in 2020, they were the fifth
biggest contributor to the drop in overall life expectancy last
year. Suicide-related deaths were the third leading contributor of
the decline in life expectancy for men.
The data represents early estimates and has several limitations, the
agency noted, including the difference in the time taken by various
jurisdictions in submitting death certificates.
(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru;
Editing by Bill Berkrot)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |