Life Expectancy on the Rise After Pandemic Losses
In 2022, life expectancy in the U.S. improved following two years of declines linked to the pandemic, as shown by recent statistics from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The data reveals that the average lifespan at birth climbed to 77.5 years, marking a 1.1-year increase from 2021. Although the nation has made progress, life expectancy hasn’t fully returned to where it was before the pandemic, showing the lasting effects of the health crisis.
In addition, there was a significant decrease in the number of total deaths in the U.S., with 3.27 million recorded in 2022, down by about 184,000 from the prior year. The mortality rate also showed a marked decline, dropping by 9.2% from 879.7 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021 to 798.8 in 2022. This improvement coincided with a major reduction in deaths attributed to COVID-19, which fell by 55.3%.
Changes in Leading Causes of Death and Emerging Concerns
Heart disease and cancer remained the leading causes of death in 2022, although there were shifts in the rankings of other conditions. Strokes moved up to the fourth position, while accidental injuries rose to third place. While death rates from most major causes declined, kidney disease was an exception, with its death rate rising by 1.5%.
The findings also showed that both men and women saw similar gains in life expectancy, with men gaining 1.3 years to reach 74.8, and women gaining 0.9 years to reach 80.2. However, disparities still exist among racial and ethnic groups, with American Indian/Alaskan Native males having the highest mortality rates, though they experienced the largest year-over-year decline. An area of growing concern is the rising death rates among children aged 1-14, driven by factors such as accidental injuries, overdoses, and suicides among adolescents.