Life expectancy at birth in the United States fell by 1.5 years in 2020, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Covid-19 deaths accounted for most but not all of the decline. From 78.8 years in 2019, life expectancy fell to 77.3 years in 2020. The decline was much greater for some groups than others...
Change in life expectancy at birth, 2019 to 2020 (in years)
Total: -1.5
Females: -1.2
Males: -1.8
Blacks: -2.9
Hispanics: -3.0
Non-Hispanic whites: -1.2
Hispanic males: -3.7
Black males: -3.3
Black females: -2.4
Hispanic females: -2.0
Non-Hispanic white males: -1.3
Non-Hispanic white females: -1.1
"Mortality due to Covid-19 had, by far, the single greatest effect on the decline in life expectancy at birth between 2019 and 2020," reports the NCHS. Covid accounted for 74 percent of the negative change in life expectancy. More deaths due to unintentional injuries (mostly drug overdoses) contributed another 11 percent, and the rise in homicides contributed 3 percent.
Fewer deaths from cancer, heart disease, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, and Alzheimer's prevented life expectancy from falling even further.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Provisional Life Expectancy Estimates for 2020 (PDF)
No comments:
Post a Comment