Life Expectancy Falls Again Due to COVID-19 and Excess Mortality
Life expectancy in the United States has fallen for two consecutive years for the first time in a century, mainly due to COVID-19 and excess mortality associated with the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its knock-on effects have contributed to a 2.7-year decline in life expectancy from 2019 to 2021, and some demographics’ life expectancies have fallen even lower, matching numbers not seen since World War II. Preliminary data released by the CDC shows that the average life expectancy for Americans declined for a second straight year, wiping out all progress made since 1996.
American Indians and Alaskan Natives experienced the steepest decline in life expectancy, losing 6.6 years since 2019. The current expectancy of 65.2 has not been witnessed since the 1940s and is likely due to the poor access to care experienced during the pandemic. From 2020 – 2021, White Americans lost one full year of life while Black Americans lost 0.7 years and Hispanic Americans lost 0.2 years.
In addition to COVID-19-related declines, the uptick in overdose deaths and other deaths of despair contributed to falling life expectancies. Excess mortality during the pandemic contributed to over 150,000 deaths on top of the million Americans whose deaths were directly attributed to COVID-19.
The excess death toll during the pandemic was about 15% higher than reported COVID-19 fatalities, but for expecting mothers, the excess mortality rate was much higher. A study from the University of Minnesota found that maternal deaths increased by 33% during the pandemic.
Minority women experienced worse outcomes than White women, with maternal mortality for Hispanic mothers rising by 78% and mortality for Black mothers increasing by 40.2%. Besides COVID-19, the most common reasons for the increase in maternal mortality were other viral diseases, including diseases of the respiratory system and conditions of the circulatory system.
A White House report studying excess mortality indicated a strong relationship between excess mortality and the rate of uninsured individuals per state. The study also suggests that vaccination rates contribute strongly to reducing the excess mortality rate.
Another article from The Lancet reaffirms this suggestion by analyzing Massachusetts’s excess mortality rates. The study published last week found that excess mortality decreased as the population reached a critical mass of vaccination and post-infection immunity, at which point excess mortality was uncoupled from infection rates.
Much is still unknown about the actual death toll attributable to the pandemic, and the global death toll still underrepresents the cumulative effects of the pandemic on life expectancies and avoidable mortality. Increasing COVID-19 infections attributed to Omicron subvariants have also left people disabled with long-COVID symptoms and cardiac issues that researchers are still working to understand.
