U.S. Life Expectancy Barely Scrapes Back in 2022, Still Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the overall life expectancy at birth in the United States improved by 1.1 years as of 2022, reaching 77.5 years. However, this figure is only slightly above half of the 2.4 years lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the two preceding years and remains lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Reduced COVID-19 mortality rates play a crucial role in this increase for both males and females, as well as across all racial and ethnic groups. Despite this, COVID-19 remains one of the most prevalent causes of death in the country. Experts suggest that further decreases in mortality due to COVID-19 will remain essential for improving life expectancy.
Elizabeth Arias, a lead author of the report and researcher at the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, commented that COVID-19 death tolls in 2022 were still significant. She added, "Given other conditions, we would need to witness a more substantial decrease in COVID-19 deaths alongside an increased life expectancy."
The CDC reports that around 245,000 deaths occurred due to COVID-19 in 2022, as compared to around 385,000 and over 462,000 in 2020 and 2021, respectively. According to Arias, only a fraction of life expectancy losses has been offset, and further years may be required to fully recover.
The life expectancy of the Native American population is increasing at the fastest rate, with an increase of 2.3 years in 2022. However, this temporary elevation only accounts for approximately a third of the "astonishing" 6.2 years lost during the pandemic. In 2022, the Native American life expectancy stood at 67.9 years, lower than any other racial or ethnic group.
White Americans have a higher life expectancy than Black Americans, but the gap has diminished in the past three decades, according to CDC statistics. The life expectancy of White Americans increased the least in 2022, contributing to a further narrowing of the gap between the two groups. In 2022, Black Americans had a life expectancy of 72.8 years, while White Americans had a life expectancy of 77.5 years.
Hispanics and Asians typically have longer life expectancies, and this trend continues in 2022. Hispanics can expect to live until 80 years, while Asians can expect to live until 84.5 years. Nevertheless, Hispanics have managed to recover over half of the life expectancy losses in the first two pandemic years, unlike other racial and ethnic groups.
With life expectancy in the U.S. lagging behind for decades, experts suggest that recuperating lost years is a more significant challenge than overcoming the pandemic.
"In the decade prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, life expectancy in the U.S. remained stagnant while life expectancy in other countries continued to grow, drastically widening the gap between the U.S. and other countries," stated Dr. Steven Woolf, former director of the Center for Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University and an author of studies on trends in life expectancy. He did not contribute to the CDC's recent report but commented on emerging trends.
"The factors contributing to the decline have persisted during the pandemic," Woolf continued, referring to drug overdoses, suicides, obesity, and diabetes. "These issues have a direct impact on the pandemic. Some of the barriers to progress in the non-COVID context are, in fact, these existing problems that were already claiming lives before the pandemic."
A reduction in mortality rates linked to heart diseases, unintentional injuries, cancer, and homicides is also predicted to boost life expectancy in 2022, according to CDC data. While some of these improvements will be offset by higher mortality rates due to influenza and respiratory diseases, perinatal conditions, kidney diseases, and malnutrition, the drivers are inconsistent across all demographic groups.
Arias stated that unintentional injuries, most notably accidental drug overdoses, primarily contributed to the decline in life expectancy in the decade prior to the pandemic for Whites. While the trend reversed for other groups, it continued to be a negative factor.
Conversely, the CDC data shows that accidental injuries and homicides surged among Native Americans and Hispanics in 2022, serving as a major impediment to increasing life expectancy. For Black Americans, higher perinatal mortality rates act as the primary hindrance.
"The slow recovery has much to do with the systemic health disadvantages in the U.S. that were already claiming lives prior to the pandemic," Woolf concluded.
