STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Average U.S. life expectancy has fallen for the second straight year in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, landing at its lowest point since 2016, according to new preliminary estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The decline from 77.0 years in 2020 to 76.1 years marks the worst two-year decline on record since 1923, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reported. Male life expectancy (73.2 years) and female life expectancy (79.1 years ) both declined to levels not seen since 1996.
COVID-19 deaths contributed to nearly three-fourths, or 74%, of the decline from 2019 to 2020, and 50% of the decline from 2020 to 2021, the study found.
The second most-reported reason for death was “unintentional injuries,” driven largely by drug overdoses. It was the second biggest overall reason for the worsening estimate, driving 15.9% of the decline, the agency reported.
More than 1 million Americans have COVID-19 listed as a cause on their death certificate to date, according to data reported on the CDC website.
Heart disease (4.1%), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (3.0%), and suicide (2.1%) rounded out the most common causes of death.
The decline in life expectancy would have been even greater if it were not for decreases due to the flu and pneumonia, chronic lower respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s Disease and other conditions, the study found.
Yet, the impact of the causes varied widely among demographic groups, the report showed.
COVID-19 was the leading cause in the decline in life expectancy among white Americans in 2021. It contributed to 54.1% of the decline last year, from 77.4 to 76.4 years.
Among Black Americans, COVID-19 was responsible for 35% of the life expectancy, and it caused 21.4% of the decline in American Indian and Alaska Native people.
During the first year of the pandemic, the agency initially reported that Hispanic Americans saw the worst drop in life expectancy of any group — with 90% of their decline blamed on COVID-19, the CDC reported.
That changed during the second year of the pandemic, when the country’s Hispanic population saw only a “slight decline” of 0.2 years in life expectancy, and “unintentional injuries” topped COVID-19 in driving the deaths.
For Asian Americans, cancer drove 21.4% of the decline last year, ahead of COVID-19 or “unintentional injuries.’’
Among all racial groups, the report said that Asian Americans saw the smallest decline in life expectancy last year, losing just 0.1 years in 2021, to 83.5 years.
American Indian and Alaska Native people lost 1.9 years, dropping to 65.2 years, the largest decline of any racial group, the CDC report said.
Disparities in COVID-19 deaths over the course of the pandemic shifted significantly as vaccines and treatments became available, the agency reported earlier this year.
As a result, the life expectancy advantage white Americans held over Black Americans has shrunk by 5.1% from 2020 — with just 5.6 years separating the two groups.
In 1993, Black Americans had a life expectancy that was 7.1 years worse than their white counterparts. By 2019, before the pandemic, that gap had shrunk to 4 years, the report showed.
The report also noted that the difference in life expectancy between men and women widened from 5.7 to 5.9 years in 2021. In 2010, that gap was just 4.8 years.
The study used death certificate data to predict the life expectancy of people born in 2021. The estimates are considered provisional because death certificate information may be revised, and additional death certificates may be received until approximately six months after the end of the year, according to the report.
