US life expectancy decreased 0.9 years from 2020 to 2021

U.S. life expectancy declined from 2020 to 2021 overall, among males and females, and for all race and Hispanic-origin groups, according to an August Vital Statistics Rapid Release report, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Elizabeth Arias, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues present life expectancy estimates calculated based on provisional death counts for 2021 by sex and race/ethnicity.

The researchers found that life expectancy at birth was 76.1 years in 2021, which marked a decrease of 0.9 years from 77.0 years in 2020. Life expectancy at birth declined for males, from 74.2 years in 2020 to 73.2 years in 2021, and in females, from 79.9 years in 2020 to 79.1 years in 2021. Excess deaths due to COVID-19 and other causes led to an overall reduction in life expectancy from 2019 to 2021 of 2.7 years for the total population and of 3.1 and 2.3 years for males and females, respectively. From 2020 to 2021, life expectancy decreased by 1.9, 1.0, 0.7, 0.2, and 0.1 years for non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives, non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Asians, respectively.

"COVID-19 was the leading cause contributing negatively to the change in life expectancy for the total population and for three of the five Hispanic-origin and race groups shown in this report," the authors write.

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