British study shows life expectancy drops in U.S. thanks to COVID-19

According to a study published this month in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) analyzing the most recent data from the U.S. Census, the United States had the second-steepest decline in life expectancy among high-income countries last year.

U.S. men saw life expectancy fall by nearly 2.3 years from 76.7 to 74.4. For American women, the decline was more than 1.6 years from 81.8 to 80.2.

Only Russia saw steeper drops in life expectancy.

BMJ's study assessed premature death in 37 countries, comparing observed life expectancy in 2020 with what would have been expected for year based on the historical trend from 2005 to 2019. Of the countries surveyed, 31 saw life expectancy drop.

The study's lead author, Nazrul Islam, a researcher at the University of Oxford, said the drop in U.S. life expectancy was driven by the deaths of young people.

Islam's research team suggested the U.S. did a relatively poor job protecting young people during the worst of the COVID-19 emergency, adding America's life expectancy dropped at a faster pace than any time since at least World War II.

• According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Hawaii saw the nation's highest life expectancy for women at 84.3 years.
• Mississippi has the lowest life expectancy for men in the U.S., at 71.4 years.
• Missouri's overall life expectancy is 77.1 years, 38th in the U.S.

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