American Life Expectancy Dropped By A Full Year In The First Half Of 2020

|

February 18th, 2021

Patrice Howard writes on white flags before planting them to remember her recently deceased father and close friends in November at “IN AMERICA How Could This Happen…,” a public art installation in Washington, D.C. Led by artist Suzanne Firstenberg, volunteers planted white flags in a field to symbolize each life lost to COVID-19 in the U.S.

Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images

The average U.S. life expectancy dropped by a year in the first half of 2020, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Life expectancy at birth for the total U.S. population was 77.8 years – a decline of 1 year from 78.8 in 2019. For males, the life expectancy at birth was 75.1 – a decline of 1.2 years from 2019. For females, life expectancy declined to 80.5 years, a 0.9 year decrease from 2019.

Deaths from COVID-19 are the main factor in the overall drop in U.S. life expectancy between January and June 2020, the CDC says. But it’s not the only one: a surge in drug overdose deaths are a part of the decline, too.

Related

Top Stories