Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. declined by a year and a half in 2020, marking the largest one-year drop since World War II as COVID-19 tore through the country, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
In their report released Wednesday, CDC researchers said COVID-19 was tied to the vast majority of the decline, with drug overdose deaths also playing a significant role.
The report contains early estimates of life expectancy for various populations in the U.S., derived from 2020 death records. Though the data is not yet final, it shows a harsher impact of the pandemic on life expectancy than an earlier estimate based on just the first six months of 2020, which depicted a one-year decline. The latest data puts life expectancy in the U.S. at 77.3 years in 2020, a decline from 78.8 years in 2019. The drop brings life expectancy to its lowest level since 2003 and is the largest since a decline of 2.9 years between 1942 and 1943.
Overall, COVID-19 deaths contributed to nearly 74% of the decline, researchers said. Another 11% was attributed to accidents or unintentional injuries. Drug overdose deaths account for more than one-third of such deaths, according to the CDC, and officials last week reported an all-time high of more than 93,000 drug overdose deaths in 2020. Homicide, diabetes and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis also contributed to the decline, which could have been worse if not for decreases in mortality tied to causes such as cancer, heart disease and suicide.
The new data also underscores the unequal racial and ethnic impact of the pandemic. While Hispanic people in the U.S. have a longer life expectancy at birth than both white and Black people, they saw the largest decline in life expectancy during 2020: a staggering three-year drop from 81.8 years in 2019 to 78.8 years in 2020, with Hispanic males alone losing 3.7 years. Researchers said COVID-19 was tied to 90% of this overall decline, which narrowed the gap in life expectancy between the Hispanic population and the white population from three years to 1.2 years in 2020, even as the gap in life expectancy between the Hispanic and Black populations barely budged.
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