March 21, 2024
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Life expectancy has risen for the first time in two years, partly because COVID-19 deaths are down due to rising immunity, according to a new CDC report.
Life expectancy rates have risen for the first time in two years, due in part to a precipitous drop in deaths from COVID-19.
Overall life expectancy increased by 1.1 years from 2021 to 2022, rising from 76.4 years to 77.5 years, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For men, it jumped from 73.5 years to 74.8 years; women's life expectancy rose from 79.3 years to 80.2 years.
COVID fell from the third leading cause of death in 2021 to the fourth in 2022. Deaths from COVID dropped by about 55%, from 416,893 to 186,552 deaths. In 2023, the number of deaths tied to COVID dipped to 75,000 – an 83% decrease since early in the pandemic.
Hospital admissions for COVID dropped by more than 60% in 2023 to about 75,000 from a high of 2.5 million in 2021.
The decreased COVID deaths and hospitalizations are partly due to rising immunity. More than 81% of Americans have received at least one COVID vaccine dose, according to the CDC, and millions have natural immunity.
Still, life expectancy rates have not bounced back to pre-COVID rates. Overall life expectancy peaked at 78.9 years in 2014. It was at 78.8 years in 2019.
Heart disease and cancer still topped the list of leading causes of death in 2022.
Though the rate of drug overdose deaths did not significantly shift between 2021 and 2022 – and even decreased among people ages 15 to 34 – fatal drug poisonings increased for people 35 and older. The total number of drug overdose deaths in 2022 was 107,941, up slightly from 106,699 in 2021.
The rate of drug overdose deaths for synthetic opioids other than methadone increased 4.1% between 2021 and 2022, spurred in large part by the infiltration of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, in the nation's illicit drug supply.
Rates of fatal drug poisonings from heroin, methadone and natural and semisynthetic opioids declined. The rate of deaths linked to psychostimulants, including methamphetamine, was 4% higher in 2022.
The new CDC data also revealed a 3.1% rise in infant mortalities, a 12% increase in death rates for 1-to-4-year-olds and a 7% jump for 5-to-14-year-olds. Leading causes of infant deaths include congenital malformations, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome.
