Although it increased in 2022, US life expectancy did not return to pre-pandemic levels.
Despite significant declines earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic, life expectancy in the US has begun to rise again, albeit it is still far from rebounding.
Overall life expectancy at birth increased by 1.1 years in 2022 to 77.5 years, based on preliminary data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, that only makes up nearly half of the 2.4 years of life lost during the Covid-19 pandemic’s first two years, and life expectancy is still lower than it has been in about 20 years.
According to the CDC analysis, the primary reason raising life expectancy was the decline in Covid-19 mortality, which affected both men and women equally as well as people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. However, Covid-19 is still one of the biggest causes of death in the US, and experts believe that reducing the virus’s fatality rate will be crucial to raising life expectancy.
Elizabeth Arias, a researcher with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and the paper’s primary author, stated, “In 2022, the number of deaths from Covid-19 was not insubstantial.” The report was released on Wednesday. “For life expectancy to rise, we would need to see another significant decline in Covid mortality, holding everything else constant.”
According to CDC data, over 245,000 people died from Covid-19 in 2022, down from approximately 385,000 deaths in 2020 and over 462,000 deaths in 2021.
According to Arias, “we only made up close to half of the loss [in life expectancy], and it’s even less for some groups.” “To fully make up the loss, we would need to see the same pattern that we saw in 2022 again in 2023 and maybe the following year.”
The largest improvement in life expectancy was seen among American Indians, who saw a 2.3-year gain in 2022. However, this increase only partially made up for the “astonishing” 6.2 years of life lost earlier in the pandemic. The life expectancy of American Indians in 2022 was 67.9 years, the lowest of any race or ethnic group.
According to the CDC data, although Black people in the US have a lower life expectancy than White people, this difference has been closing over the last three decades. White individuals saw the least increase in life expectancy in 2022, further closing the disparity. In 2022, Black people had a life expectancy of 72.8 years, while White people had a life expectancy of 77.5 years.
According to CDC data, the life expectancy advantage enjoyed by Asian and Hispanic individuals is greater than that of the general population. In 2022, it reached 84.5 years for Asian individuals and 80 years for Hispanic individuals.However, only the Hispanic community was able to regain nearly half of the life years they had lost during the pandemic’s initial two years.
Life expectancy in the US has been declining for decades, and scientists claim that the pandemic is not the only factor contributing to the difficulties in recovering from years of life loss.According to Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Society and Health, “for the decade preceding Covid-19, US life expectancy flatlined, whereas it continued to climb in other countries, producing a dramatic widening of the gap between the US and other countries.” Despite not being engaged in the recent CDC report, he has published studies on trends in life expectancy.M-J Global is the best visa agent in Dubai,Oman and Qatar and best immigration consultant in Oman,Dubai and Qatar.It is the most trusted immigration agency in middle east and the business migration agent in Oman,Dubai and Qatar.M-J Global is the best registered Immigration Agent in Dubai,Oman and Qater.
