U.S. Life Expectancy Plummets Again, Marking Worst 2-Year Decline in a Century

9/1/2022

RawNews1st/Tech– U.S. Life Expectancy Plummets Again, Marking Worst 2-Year Decline in a Century

The average American’s life expectancy is plummeting, the CDC revealed in a new report published on Wednesday (August 31).

U.S. life expectancy estimates have fallen to the worst levels since 1996, marking the second straight year of significant drops.

Health officials say the decline in life expectancy from 2019 to 2021—falling by 2.7 years to 76.1—is now the country’s worst two-year decline on record since 1923.

The biggest decline in life expectancy was among American Indian and Alaska Native people, down 1.9 years to age 65.2 in 2021, the same as overall U.S. life expectancy in 1944. Between 2019 and 2021, these groups lost 6.6 years in life expectancy, the investigators found.

Among white people, the decline in 2021 was one year — from 77.4 in 2020 to 76.4. Among Black people, the drop was nearly a year, from 71.5 years to 70.8 in 2021. In both groups, life expectancy in 2021 was the lowest since 1995.

After a four-year drop in life expectancy from 2019 to 2020, Hispanic people in the United States had a smaller decline in 2021 — 0.2 years — to 77.6 years.

Among Asian people, life expectancy also dropped much less than a year, to 83.5 years, which is the highest life expectancy of any group included in the report.

The researchers also found:

Life expectancy for women dropped by nearly a year from 79.9 years in 2020 to 79.1 in 2021.
Life expectancy for men dropped a year from 74.2 years in 2020 to 73.2 in 2021.
The gender gap in life expectancy grew in 2021 from 5.7 years in 2020 to 5.9 years in 2021. Between 2000 and 2010, this disparity narrowed to 4.8 years, but gradually increased, reaching its greatest level since 1996.
Declines in life expectancy since 2019 are largely driven by the pandemic. COVID-19 deaths contributed to 74% of the decline from 2019 to 2020 and 50% of the decline from 2020 to 2021.
About 16% of the decline from 2020 to 2021 owed to increases in deaths from accidents and unintentional injuries, with drug overdoses accounting for nearly 50% of these deaths.
Other causes of death contributing to the decline included heart disease (4%); chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (3%); and suicide (2%).
Among men, the decline in life expectancy primarily owed to COVID (49.5%); unintentional injuries (19%); suicide (3.6%); chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (3.4%); and homicide (2.5%).
For women, the decline owed to COVID (51%); unintentional injuries (15%); heart disease (5.7%); stroke (3.5%); and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (2.4%).