According to federal data, life expectancy in the United States is at its lowest point since 1996 due to an increase in COVID and drug overdose deaths.
Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that in 2021, only heart disease and cancer caused more fatalities in the United States.
Accidental injuries, which include drug overdoses, were the fourth greatest cause of mortality.
In 2021, there were 106,999 deaths from drug overdoses, a 16% rise over the 92,000 deaths in 2020.
And the rate of drug deaths involving opioids such as fentanyl and tramadol increased by 22% between 2020 and 2021, while heroin overdose deaths decreased by 32% during the same period.
From 2020 to 2021, the number of ODs among Americans 65 and older increased by 28%.
In 2021, the number of COVID-related deaths grew by 18.8%, from 350,831 in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, to 416,894.
According to the CDC, 3,464,231 Americans passed away in 2020, 80,502 more than in 2021.
In June 2021, there will be a community COVID-19 memorial at the entrance to Greenwood Cemetery.
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As a result, life expectancy in the United States dropped to 76.4 years in 2016 from 77 years in 2020.
Male life expectancy fell from 74.2 years in 2020 to 73.5 years in 2021, while female life expectancy went from 79.9 years in 2020 to 79.3 years in 2021.
In 2021, Americans aged 65 were projected to live an additional 18.4 years, a little decrease from 2020.
The additional life expectancy for males aged 65 stayed unchanged at 17 years, however for women it decreased from 19.8 in 2020 to 19.7 in 2021.
Stroke, chronic respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cirrhosis, and kidney disease rounded out the top 10 American fatalities.
From 2020 to 2021, COVID-19 had the largest rise in mortality rate, at 22.5%, among the top 10 causes of death in the United States.
Accidents had the second largest rate increase at 12.3%, followed by cirrhosis at 9%, kidney disease at 7.1%, stroke at 5.9%, diabetes at 2.4%, heart disease at 3.3%, and cancer at 1.7%.
Mortality rates for chronic respiratory disorders and Alzheimer’s disease decreased by 4.7% and 4.4%, respectively.
»COVID and overdoses reduce US life expectancy to its lowest level since 1996, according to the CDC«