COVID-19 played a significant role in the decline in life expectancy in United States.
The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released its final mortality data that shows life expectancy in the United States has fallen for the second consecutive year in 2021, coming to its lowest level since 1996. The report demonstrates that the United States continues to rank last among large economies.
COVID-19 played a significant role in the decline in life expectancy, which is now nearly two and a half years lower than it was at the start of the pandemic. Life expectancy at birth in the US was 76.4 years in 2021, down 0.6 year from 77.0 years in 2020. Life expectancy for men fell 0.7 years, from 74.2 in 2020 to 73.5 in 2021. Life expectancy for females fell 0.6 years, from 79.9 in 2020 to 79.3 in 2021, as per the CDC.
One of the top leading causes in 2021 was also heart disease and cancer. "Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis became the 9th leading cause of death in 2021, while influenza and pneumonia dropped from the list of 10 leading causes. The remaining leading causes in 2021 (unintentional injuries, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, Alzheimer disease, diabetes, and kidney disease) remained at the same ranks as in 2020," the report added.
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The final mortality data is less severe than previously predicted; preliminary data suggested that life expectancy could have dropped nearly a year in 2021. However, it is still being considered as significant since life expectancy changes by only 0.1 or 0.2 years on average.
Overdose deaths increased significantly throughout the pandemic, reaching record levels in 2021. Nearly 1,07,000 people died from a drug overdose in 2021, increasing the age-adjusted death rate from overdoses by more than 14 percent in a year and 50 percent in the previous two years.
Life expectancy in the US remains lower than in the United Kingdom, where the average is 80.8 years. It is also lower than in its neighbour, Canada, where life expectancy is 81.75 years as of data released for 2020.