US life expectancy rebounds after historic drops during COVID-19 pandemic

LOS ANGELES - Life expectancy in the United States has started to rebound after historic drops during the COVID-19 pandemic, but does not fully offset the loss of 2.4 years between 2019 and 2021, according to the latest data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2022, life expectancy at birth in the United States was 77.5 years, increasing by 1.1 years from 76.4 in 2021, CDC data showed.

Life expectancy at birth for males in 2022 was 74.8 years, representing an increase of 1.3 years from 73.5 in 2021; while for females, life expectancy increased to 80.2 years from 79.3 in 2021.

The increase of 1.1 years in life expectancy from 2021 to 2022 primarily resulted from decreases in mortality due to COVID-19, heart disease, unintentional injuries, cancer, and homicide, according to CDC.

The increase in life expectancy would have been even greater if not for the offsetting effects of increases in mortality due to influenza and pneumonia, perinatal conditions, kidney disease, nutritional deficiencies, and congenital malformations, said CDC.

The American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic population experienced the greatest increase in life expectancy of 2.3 years, primarily resulting from decreases in mortality due to COVID-19, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, suicide, cancer, and diabetes, according to CDC.