U.S. Life Expectancy Dropped 1.5 Years in 2020 - Steepest Decline Since WWII

U.S. Life Expectancy Dropped 1.5 Years in 2020 - Steepest Decline Since WWII

Life expectancy in the United States fell by a year and a half in 2020, primarily due to increases in death due to COVID-19, according to data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"U.S. life expectancy at birth for 2020, based on nearly final data, was 77.3 years, the lowest it has been since 2003," researchers at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics wrote in a new report published on Wednesday.

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US life expectancy declined from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.3 years in 2020, the researchers reported, and Covid-19 deaths contributed to 73.8% of that decline.    

“The precipitous drop in 2020 caused largely by Covid-19 is not likely to be permanent. In 1918, the flu pandemic wiped 11.8 years from Americans’ life expectancy, but the number fully rebounded the following year,” reported the New York Times on Wednesday.  “But even if deaths from Covid-19 fall off, the economic and social effects will linger, especially among racial groups that were disproportionately affected, researchers have noted.”

Data showed that the top 10 leading causes of death in 2020 were:

1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Covid-19
4. Unintentional injury
5. Stroke
6. Chronic lower respiratory disease
7. Alzheimer's disease
8. Diabetes
9. Influenza and pneumonia
10. Kidney disease