US life expectancy falls, primarily due to COVID-19
The life expectancy of a U.S. adult has fallen to 76.1 years of age, a sharp decline of nearly a full year from 2020.
The decline represents the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021, which has caused thousands of excess deaths. Since the onset of the pandemic, there have been more than 1.04 million American deaths due to COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which also published the latest life expectancy figures.
The decline in life expectancy, which is defined as the average number of years a group of infants would live if they were to experience throughout life the age-specific death rates prevailing during a period, is even greater from 2019 to 2021––2.7 years for the total population, the CDC reported.
The numbers are worse for men compared to women, with 3.1 years less of life expectancy for men to women’s decline of 2.3 years from 2019 to 2021. Life expectancy for men in 2021 was 73.2 years, down 1 year from 74.2 years in 2020. Life expectancy for women declined to 79.1 years, down 0.8 year from 79.9 in 2020. The pandemic years also reversed the narrowing life expectancy gap between male and female U.S. adults.
“Between 2000 and 2010, the difference in life expectancy between the sexes narrowed from 5.2 years to its lowest level of 4.8 years, but then increased in 2020 and 2021 to levels not seen since 1996 (when the difference was 6 years),” the CDC reported.
According to the agency, the decline in life expectancy can largely be blamed on excess deaths from COVID-19, attributing to 50% of the negative contribution. However, unintentional injuries (15.9%), heart disease (4.1%), liver disease and cirrhosis (3.0%), and suicide (2.1%) also played a role in driving down life expectancy. Fortunately, improvements in some diseases––including influenza and pneumonia, chronic lower respiratory diseases, Alzheimer disease, perinatal conditions and Parkinson disease––kept life expectancy from declining even further in 2021.
COVID-19 attributed to about half of the negative contribution for both men and women, though among other causes, men saw an uptick in suicide as one of the top negative contributors.
Across demographics, life expectancy also drastically varied, the CDC found.
“Between 2020 and 2021, racial and ethnic disparities in life expectancy increased in some cases and declined in others,” the agency reported.
The non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native Resources (AIAN) population experienced the biggest decline in life expectancy from 2020 to 2021, at 1.9 years. This was followed by the non-Hispanic White population (1 year). The non-Hispanic Black population had the third greatest decline in life expectancy of 0.7 year, while the Hispanic population had a 0.2 year decline in life expectancy from 2020 to 2021. Lastly, the non-Hispanic Asian population experienced the smallest decline in life expectancy, at just 0.1 year.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."