Covid causes biggest drop in life expectancy since WWII

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The Covid-19 pandemic triggered the biggest drop in life expectancy since World War II in most developed countries, with American men suffering the most severe losses.

A study of death registries in 29 countries, covering most of Europe, the United States and Chile, found that 27 countries experienced reductions in life expectancy in 2020 on a scale that wiped out years of progress in mortality, according to research conducted by scientists at the University. from Oxford.

Men have suffered greater declines in life expectancy than women in most countries. The largest declines in life expectancy were seen among men in the United States, which saw a decline of 2.2 years from 2019 levels, followed by Lithuanian men, with a drop of 1.0 years. 7 year old.

“For Western European countries such as Spain, England and Wales, Italy, Belgium, among others, the last time such large drops in life expectancy at birth were observed in a single year, that was during World War II, ”said José Manuel Aburto. , lead co-author of the study.

Women in eight countries and men in 11 countries suffered loss of life expectancy of more than one year, while 22 countries suffered loss of life expectancy of more than six months.

“To contextualize, it took on average 5.6 years for these countries to recently achieve a one-year increase in life expectancy: progress wiped out during 2020 by the Covid-19”, a said Dr Aburto.

The decline in life expectancy in the United States in 2020 is unprecedented for both women and men, according to available data dating back to 1933 during the Great Depression. The life expectancy of American women fell by 1.65 years in 2020, compared to the previous year.

In the United States, these sharp declines in life expectancy can be explained in part by the notable increase in mortality among people of working age.

“In the United States, the increase in mortality in the under-60 age group was the most significant contributor to the decline in life expectancy, while in most European countries the increase mortality above age 60 contributed more significantly, ”said Ridhi Kashyap, co-lead author of the study. .

Health experts have attributed the biological differences and behavioral factors to higher rates of serious illness in men, at least in the short term, compared to women.

“While women and men tend to contract Covid-19 at fairly similar rates, men seem to get more seriously ill in the short term – although, interestingly, women report higher rates of ‘long Covid’. Said David Dowdy, associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“Compared to women, men often behave in a way that favors the virus. Not only do we confront each other a little more, but we are also slower to ask for help when we get sick.

The study was led by scientists at the Leverhulme Center for Demographic Science at the University of Oxford and published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on Monday.

The study defined life expectancy as the average age at which a newborn baby would live if current death rates continued throughout their life.