By Nene Narh-Mensah, Capital News Service
National life expectancy has decreased for the second year in a row, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Maryland’s life expectancy also fell, according to 2020 statistics from the state, which is the latest available data.
In 2021, the national life expectancy in the United States dropped to 76.1 years from 77 years in 2020. This, combined with a decrease from 2019 to 2020 when life expectancy declined by 1.8 years, was the biggest two-year decline in life expectancy since the early 1920s, according to the CDC. The health organization attributed most of the decline to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 deaths made up nearly 74% of the decline from 2019 to 2020, and half of the decrease from 2020 to 2021, according to the CDC. The next highest cause was death by accident or injury, making up about 16% of the decrease in life expectancy from 2020 to 2021. Drug overdoses made up nearly half of that number.
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