U.S. life expectancy fell again in 2021 amid pandemic, opioid crisis

[brooklynite]

Source: Axios

U.S. life expectancy fell to 76.4 years last year from 77 years in 2020, driven by the effects of the pandemic as well as the opioid epidemic, according to final mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why it matters: It is the second consecutive year that life expectancy has fallen. COVID-19 was the fastest-growing cause of death in 2021, followed closely by unintentional injuries, which include overdose deaths.

By the numbers: There were more than 3.4 million deaths in the U.S. in 2021, an increase of 80,502 over the total reported in 2020.

The death rate rose 5.3%, increasing from 835.4 deaths per 100,000 people to 879.7.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2022/12/22/us-life-expectancy-fell-again-in-2021-amid-pandemic-opioid-crisis

[SunSeeker]

1. The fentanyl deaths really drive down the numbers since most of those are young people.

And of course, life expectancy is lowest in red states.

[peppertree]

2. +1

Many red states have life expectancies below several major Latin American countries.

Included are all red states with lower expectancies than the poorest 'blue' state, New Mexico (74.5):

Chile: 81.0
Argentina: 78.1
Brazil: 76.5
Venezuela: 76.0
Mexico: 75.3
Oklahoma: 74.1
Arkansas: 73.8
Tennessee: 73.8
Kentucky: 73.5
Alabama: 73.2
Guatemala: 73.1
Louisiana: 73.1
West Virginia: 72.8
Mississippi: 71.9

* Excluding Peru (76.9), Colombia (76.8), and Ecuador (76.4) as the mortality data is considered unreliable by the UN.

If you go back to around 1980, the story was quite different. Mississippi, in fact, had higher life expectancies then than now:

Oklahoma: 73.7
Arkansas: 73.7
Tennessee: 73.3
Kentucky: 73.1
West Virginia: 72.8
Alabama: 72.5
Mississippi: 72.0
Louisiana: 71.7
Argentina: 69.1
Venezuela: 67.3
Chile: 65.3
Mexico: 64.0
Brazil: 61.9
Guatemala: 57.2

[SunSeeker]

3. Thanks for laying out those stats against 3rd World countries.

Really drives it home.

[peppertree]

4. You're welcome

Of course - if you show them to a Chumpkin, he/she will just say "you lie!"

"Everyone knows those people lie about everything!"

(I've had that very response)

[SunSeeker]

5. Yup, as they keep dying. nt

[bronxiteforever]

6. Kick & recommend for visibility

Covid deaths could be mitigated by the population. Mask and vaccinate or pay the God of Death his due.

[Crazyleftie]

7. Male life expectancy in the US is

8 years less than in Europe..............

[dembotoz]

8. well red states always want to save money on social security

by dying early they help with that



thank you

[Dysfunctional]

9. This is life expectancy from birth.

Social Security can give you a life expectancy by your current age. I am 79 and 6 months, my additional life expectancy is another 9 years. John Hancock says I will live to be 103.

[melm00se]

10. It should be noted

that UK, France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Austria and Germany have experienced drops in their life expectancies (to be fair some are seeing an upward trend, those countries aren't at their pre-COVID #s).