COVID-19: U.S. Life Expectancy Drops / Global Years of Life Lost

By Kelly Young

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

Here are some of the COVID-19 developments making news today:

Life expectancy drops: Average life expectancy in the U.S. fell by a full year from 2019 to the first half of 2020, dropping from 78.8 to 77.8 years, according to preliminary CDC data. This is the largest decline since World War II, the New York Times reports. Males had a larger decline in life expectancy, falling from 76.3 to 75.1. By race, non-Hispanic Black people saw the largest drop, losing 2.7 years of life expectancy, from 74.7 to 72.0 years. The authors say that because these represent deaths from the first half of 2020, when certain regions may have been more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than others, they do not provide a full picture of the pandemic's effects.

Years of life lost: In 81 countries, some 21 million years of life have been lost due to COVID-19, researchers estimate in Scientific Reports. On average, those who died lost an average of 16 years of life. In heavily affected countries, COVID-19-related years of life lost were 2-9 times that of median years of life lost due to seasonal influenza. Men have lost 44% more years of life than women.