Pandemic Behind Biggest Fall In Life Expectancy, Say Researchers

• covid has wiped out years of progress on life expectancy, finds study
• the biggest declines in life expectancy were among males in the US, with a decline of 2.2 years relative to 2019 levels
• females in 8 countries and males in 11 countries experienced losses larger than a year
• most life expectancy reductions across different countries were attributable to official Covid deaths

The Covid pandemic has caused the biggest decrease in life expectancy in western Europe since the second world war, according to a study. Data from most of the 29 countries that were analyzed by scientists recorded reductions in life expectancy last year and at a scale that wiped out years of progress says an article on Guardian.

Declines in life expectancy

The biggest declines in life expectancy were among males in the US, with a decline of 2.2 years relative to 2019 levels, followed by Lithuanian males (1.7 years). Life expectancy losses exceeded those recorded around the time of the dissolution of the eastern bloc in central and eastern Europe, according to the research, led by scientists at Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science.

Least life expectancy

Dr. José Manuel Aburto, a co-lead author of the study, said: “For western European countries such as Spain, England, and Wales, Italy, Belgium, among others, the last time such large magnitudes of declines in life expectancy at birth were observed in a single year was during the second world war.”

Fallen for the first time in 40 years

Last week, the Office for National Statistics estimated that life expectancy for men in the UK had fallen for the first time in 40 years because of the impact of Covid-19. A boy born between 2018 and 2020 is expected to live until he is 79, down from 79.2 for the period of 2015-17, according to the ONS.

Factor in reduction of life expectancy

Males experienced larger life expectancy declines than females across most of the 29 countries. Most life expectancy reductions across different countries were attributable to official Covid deaths, according to the paper.