The trajectory of life expectancy in the United States shows signs of improvement following the drastic declines witnessed during the Covid-19 outbreak. However, the recovery remains incomplete.
Provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention illustrates a 1.1-year increase in overall life expectancy, reaching 77.5 years in 2022. Despite this progress, it only counterbalances less than half of the 2.4-year loss experienced in the initial two years of the pandemic. Moreover, life expectancy still falls below levels observed nearly two decades ago.
The reduction in Covid-19-related mortality emerges as the primary driver elevating life expectancy for both genders and across diverse racial and ethnic groups, as per the CDC analysis. Nevertheless, Covid-19 continues to hold its position as a leading cause of death in the US. Experts emphasize the importance of further reducing Covid-related mortality to substantially enhance life expectancy.
Elizabeth Arias, a researcher from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and the report’s lead author, highlighted the substantial impact of Covid-19 deaths in 2022. “Given the current scenario, we would require another significant decrease in Covid-related fatalities to witness an upsurge in life expectancy,” she stated.
Approximately 245,000 deaths were attributed to Covid-19 in 2022, marking a decline from the 385,000 deaths recorded in 2020 and the 462,000 in 2021, according to CDC data.
However, Arias pointed out that the life expectancy rebound of nearly half of the loss remains insufficient, particularly for certain demographics. She stressed the necessity for a repeat of the 2022 trend in subsequent years to fully recover from the setbacks.
The most notable increase in life expectancy occurred among American Indian individuals, reflecting a gain of 2.3 years in 2022. Nevertheless, this progress only recuperated about a third of the substantial 6.2-year decline witnessed earlier in the pandemic. In 2022, the life expectancy among American Indian individuals stood at 67.9 years, lower than any other racial or ethnic group.
While white individuals exhibit a higher life expectancy compared to black individuals in the US, the gap has been gradually narrowing. In 2022, the smallest rebound in life expectancy among white individuals further diminished this gap. White individuals had a life expectancy of 77.5 years, contrasting with 72.8 years among black individuals.
The life expectancy for Hispanic and Asian individuals exceeds the average, with 2022 figures reaching 80 years for Hispanics and 84.5 years for Asians, as per CDC data. However, only the Hispanic population managed to recover over half of the life years lost during the initial pandemic phase.
The challenges in reclaiming lost years of life span further highlight existing disparities beyond the pandemic. Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Society and Health, highlighted the stagnation in US life expectancy before the pandemic. Factors such as drug overdose deaths, suicides, obesity, and diabetes contributed to this trend, persisting into the pandemic period.
The CDC data shows declines in mortality from various conditions such as heart disease, unintentional injuries, cancer, and homicide, supporting the overall rise in life expectancy in 2022. However, the gains were counteracted by increased mortality from influenza, pneumonia, perinatal conditions, kidney disease, and nutritional deficiencies. These driving factors varied across demographic groups.
Unintentional injuries, primarily fatal drug overdoses, were pivotal in stagnating life expectancy in the decade preceding the pandemic, according to Arias. While this trend reversed for the white population, it remained a concerning factor for other groups.
Contrastingly, mortality from unintentional injuries, including drug overdoses and homicide, surged among American Indian and Hispanic populations in 2022, impeding significant gains in life expectancy, per CDC data.
Among black individuals, elevated mortality from perinatal conditions acted as the primary factor hindering the rise in life expectancy.
Woolf highlighted the sluggish recovery, attributing it to systemic health disparities prevailing in the US long before the pandemic’s onset.
