COVID pandemic fueled biggest drop in U.S. life expectancy since World War II

Coronavirus deaths drove down the average life expectancy in the U.S. by 1.5 years in 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

Americans are now expected to live about 77.3 years, a significant drop from 78.8 years in 2019, according the report by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. It marked the largest decrease in a single year since World War II, when life expectancy plunged 2.9 years between 1942 and 1943 as young soldiers died in combat.

FILE - In this Jan. 9 photo, transporters Miguel Lopez, right, Noe Meza prepare to move a body of a COVID-19 victim to a morgue at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles. (Jae C. Hong/)

The 2020 decline — which set back U.S. life expectancy to its level in 2003 — is “basically catastrophic,” said Mark Hayward, a University of Texas sociology professor who studies changes in U.S. mortality.

Some experts it will take years for U.S. life expectancy levels to recover.

The recent drop was fueled predominantly by COVID-19, which has killed more than 609,000 Americans. The fast-spreading disease accounted for about 75% of the decrease.

Drug overdose deaths — which climbed 30% during the pandemic — were also a significant factor, the CDC said.

The government says more than 93,000 people died of overdoses in 2020 — the highest number ever counted in a single year, and enough to make up about a third of deaths caused by unintentional injury.

In total, unintentional injuries — which also include falls and motor vehicle accidents — were responsible for about 11% of the life expectancy decrease, the data shows.

Other causes of death contributing to the decline include spikes in homicide and deaths from diabetes and chronic liver disease, according to the report.

FILE - A funeral home worker is seen removing a body from the Flushing Hospital in Queens on April 20, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/)

African Americans saw a steeper than average 2.9 year drop in life expectancy, from 74.7 years in 2019 to 71.8 years in 2020.

Hispanic Americans, who typically have a longer life expectancy than both non-Hispanic Black and white people, faced the biggest decline, dropping three years from 81.8 years in 2019 to 78.8 years in 2020.

“COVID-19 was responsible for 90% of the decline in life expectancy for the Hispanic population,” the report said.

With News Wire Services