Data from 29 countries, mostly in Europe, the U.S., and Chile, analyzed by scientists, indicates that human life expectancy declined in 2020, as reported by The Guardian.
This significant decrease is believed to have “wiped out” years of progress in health and longevity.
Men in the U.S. were the most affected, experiencing a reduction of 2.2 years in life expectancy compared to 2019. Following them are men in Lithuania, who saw a decline of 1.7 years, according to a study led by researchers at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford.
The study analyzed data from 29 countries and found that 27 countries experienced a decline in life expectancy. (Photo: Jorge Mantilla).
“For Western countries such as Spain, the UK, Italy, Belgium, and many others, the last time a significant decline in life expectancy was recorded in just one year was during World War II,” said Dr. José Manuel Aburto, co-author of the study.
Dr. Aburto added that the life expectancy of people in the 27 countries surveyed was noted to have decreased.
“Women in 8 countries and men in 11 countries lost more than a year of life expectancy,” Dr. Aburto mentioned. “These countries had to gain an average of 5.6 years to increase life expectancy by one year. However, this progress was wiped out in 2020 due to Covid-19.”
Men experienced a greater decline in life expectancy compared to women in most of the 29 countries. The extent of the decline varied across different countries, depending on the number of reported deaths related to Covid-19.
Dr. Ridhi Kashyap, another co-author of the study, warned: “The actual results highlight the direct impact of Covid-19, showing how significant a shock the pandemic has caused to many countries.”
Last week, the Office for National Statistics in the UK also reported that life expectancy for men has decreased for the first time in 40 years due to the impact of Covid-19. A boy born during the period of 2018-2020 is expected to live to 79 years, down from 79.2 years for those born between 2015-2017.
