admin As per the new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), life expectancy dropped in 2020 by nearly two years across the US. The main reasons behind this are Covid-19 and drug overdoses.
The National Center for Health Statistics of CDC released its annual report on Tuesday which primarily looked at mortality in the US. It analysed the death data in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) for 2020, the last year for which information is available, reports DPA news agency.
Results found that from 2019 to 2020, life expectancy in the nation declined from 0.2 to three years across all states and D.C. Overall, life expectancy in the US in 2020 was 77 years, which marks a decline of 1.8 years as compared to 2019.
The Southwest and US-Mexico border area are the states that exhibit the greatest decreases, namely Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, in addition to D.C. The lowest decline in life expectancy was registered in nearly all New England states, except for Connecticut, as well as Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii.
According to the CDC, Covid 19 and increases in unintentional injuries, such as deaths due to drug overdose, are the main driving force behind that number.
The state with the lowest life expectancy in the nation in 2020 was Mississippi at 71.9 years, according to the report, while Hawaii had the highest in the country, at 80.7 years. Hawaii also had the lowest decline in life expectancy, just 0.2 years, while New York state saw the biggest decrease, dropping by a whopping three years in 2020.
The report also analysed the correlation of deaths with gender. It found that life expectancy at birth was higher for females in all states and D.C. The highest difference in life expectancy between females and males was seven years in D.C The lowest was found in Utah, at 3.9 years. Overall, the male female difference averaged at 5.7 years across the US.
Magazine 
