US life expectancy had a huge decline in 2020
US life expectancy dropped 1.5 years in 2020 – the largest decline since World War II – as a result of the high death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The report, which is based on preliminary death data for all of last year, estimated that US life expectancy fell from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.3 years in 2020. That’s the biggest decline in life expectancy in nearly 80 years, since 1942 to 1943, when life expectancy fell 2.9 years. The drop also brings life expectancy down to the lowest level since 2003.
About three-quarters of 2020’s decline in life expectancy can be attributed to deaths from COVID-19, while 11 per cent of the decline is due to increases in accidental deaths, including drug overdoses. A record 93,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2020, which is a 30 percent increase compared with 2019.
The decline in life expectancy was greater for men than women: men saw a 1.8-year drop in life expectancy in 2020, compared with 1.2 years for women. Life expectancy at birth is an estimate of how long a population of people would live if they were to experience the death rates seen in a given period. Life expectancy in the US rarely declines, and even seemingly small drops make headlines.
RACHAEL RETTNER