Covid plus overdose deaths drove down life expectancy in 2020
Life expectancy in the U.S. dropped by 1.5 years, the largest drop since World War II. The Covid-19 pandemic and drug overdose deaths drove the decline.
Life expectancy in the U.S. plunged last year in the largest one-year drop since World War II, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday, further widening the longevity gap between the U.S. and comparable countries.
Deaths from Covid-19 and drug overdoses fueled the decline — wiping out any improvements the country made in decreasing deaths from cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases — leading to a 1.5-year drop and bringing the life expectancy at birth down to 77.3 years. (Life expectancy at birth refers to how long a person born in the year being studied — in this case, 2020 — is expected to live.)
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The decline, which was reported by provisional models last month, spotlights the country's system of poor health, experts said.
CDC data show overdose deaths hit record high in 2020July 14, 202101:44"What happened in the U.S. did not occur in other comparable countries despite Covid-19 being a global pandemic," said Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University.
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