(Original title: CDC: American life expectancy has fallen to its lowest in 25 years and the new crown is one of the main reasons)
News from the Financial Association on December 23 (Edited by Bian Chun)According to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the life expectancy of Americans in 2021 decreased for the second consecutive year, falling to the lowest level since 1996.
The CDC report shows that COVID-19 is one of the main reasons for the decline in American life expectancy, which is now nearly two and a half years shorter than when the novel coronavirus pandemic began.
Americans can expect to live to 76.4 years in 2021, down 0.6 years from 77 in 2020 and 2.4 years from 78.8 in 2019.
Additionally, substance abuse and drug use is another major cause of declining life expectancy for Americans.
CDC statistician Kenneth Kochanek pointed out that so far preliminary data for 2022 shows the number of deaths from the new crown is falling, but that doesn’t mean life expectancy will rebound quickly in the next few years, because the new crown is by no means the cause of 2021. The only contributing factor to the increase in the annual death toll. The rise in drug overdose deaths is also dragging down life expectancy.
The top three causes of death are still heart disease, cancer, new crown
In 2021, nearly one in eight deaths in the United States will be caused by the new crown, up from one in 10 in 2020. For the second year in a row, COVID-19 has become the third leading cause of death.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, followed by cancer. These three causes (heart disease, cancer, Covid-19) accounted for about half of all deaths in the United States last year.
Drug overdose deaths have also risen significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, reaching record highs in 2021. In 2021, nearly 107,000 people in the United States will die from drug overdoses, up nearly 16% from 2020 .
Influenza and pneumonia dropped off the list of top 10 causes of death in 2021 after a very mild flu season last year. In addition to heart disease, cancer and COVID-19, other leading causes of death in 2021 include: unintentional injuries (drug overdoses account for more than a third); stroke; chronic diseases of the lower respiratory tract; Alzheimer’s disease; diabetes; chronic liver and kidney disease.
Ranked lowest among advanced economies
Notably, Americans continue to have the lowest life expectancy among countries with larger economies.
Americans have a lower life expectancy than the UK (80.8 years) and also lower than neighboring Canada, which was 81.75 years in 2020.
Of the three countries, the United States spends the most on health care. The US spends $12,318 per person, compared to $5,387 in the UK. By comparison, Canadian health care spending was $5,511 per capita.
