Life expectancy in the United States has risen nearly as quickly as it fell at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), life expectancy increased by more than a year in 2022 and another nearly full year in 2023, with people born in 2023 estimated to live 78.4 years.
This significant improvement is driven by lower death rates in each of the 10 leading causes of death, including Covid-19 and drug overdose deaths. The death rate for Covid-19 dropped to about a quarter of what it was in 2022, while drug overdose deaths decreased 4% between 2022 and 2023.
Reducing mortality in causes that particularly affect younger age groups can have an outsized effect on life expectancy. According to Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Society and Health, “Drug overdose deaths has been a major player in life expectancy trends and all-cause mortality.”
While US life expectancy is rising, it’s still shy of pre-pandemic levels, with the country falling behind other high-income countries. Dr. Woolf warns that aiming to get back to pre-pandemic levels may not be the best goal, as the US has been experiencing a decline in life expectancy for decades.
The gap between men and women remains significant, with females living more than five years longer than males. However, death rates are decreasing across racial and ethnic groups, except for American Indian and Black men, who still have higher age-adjusted rates. The mortality rate among children and adolescents is also increasing in recent years, highlighting the need for continued efforts to address these issues.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/19/health/us-life-expectancy-2023/index.html