Life Expectancy in the United States Falls Behind Other Nations

A recent article published in the American Journal of Public Health found that life expectancy rates in the United States have lagged behind other nations. The publication analyzed data on life expectancy in the US between 1933 and 2021, comparing it to other globally diverse countries.

The analysis used 2022 data from the United Nations Human Mortality Database and the US Mortality Database.

The most significant changes in life expectancy began in 1955 when the US had a slower increase in life expectancy. The data notes that between 1950 and 1954, the US increase in life expectancy was roughly 0.21 years/annum. However, between 1955 and 1973, the average increase in life expectancy was less than half that, at 0.10 years/annum.

However, after this period of slower increases, the US had a remarkable rise in life expectancy, with an average increase of 0.34 years/annum between 1974 and 1982.

Despite increased life expectancy rates during that period, the decline began rapidly. Between 1983 and 2009, the average increase in life expectancy was 0.15 years/annum, less than half the average increase between 1974 and 1982. Additionally, between 2010 and 2019, the rate dropped to 0.06 years/annum.

Between 2020 and 2021, the annual change in life expectancy plummeted by an average of –0.97 years/annum. While declined rates were expected during this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious diseases, many other countries did not have a decline as significant.

According to the study, 56 other countries had faster life expectancy increases than the US, surpassing US life expectancy by a landslide. A deeper analysis determined that the growth in life expectancy was even slower in the midwestern and southern central states across the country.

“The US life expectancy disadvantage began in the 1950s and has steadily worsened over the past four decades. Dozens of globally diverse countries have outperformed the United States. Causal factors appear to have been concentrated in the Midwest and South,” noted researchers in the publication.

The natural follow-up is looking for why other countries have outperformed the US. This publication suggests that policy differences may be a factor in this decline. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many other countries had stricter social distancing guidelines and vaccine mandates, which provided better protection to their citizens.

While many theories about these life expectancy changes have surfaced, further research to evaluate causational relationships is necessary.