According to new data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), life expectancy has dropped in 2020 by around two years across the United States, mainly because of COVID-19, and drug overdoses.
The National Center for Health Statistics of the US CDC released its annual report by looking at mortality in the United States, which analysed the death data in all 50 states of the country, and the District of Columbia (D.C.) for 2020.
The results found that from 2019 to 2020, the life expectancy in the United States has declined from 0.2 to three years across all the states and Washington D.C. Overall, the life expectancy in the United States in 2020 was 77 years, a decline of 1.8 years from 2019.
The states in the United States with the greatest decline include those in the Southwest and US-Mexico border area, including New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas, and also Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and also Washington D.C.
The lowest decrease in life expectancy has been registered in all New England states, except for Connecticut, and also Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, and Wyoming.
According to the US CDC, the number were mostly driven by COVID-19 and increases in unintentional injuries.
