US Life Expectancy Rose Last Year, But Remains Below Pre-Pandemic Level
November 29, 2023 9:25AM AKST
FILE - A couple walks through a park at sunset, March 10, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. U.S. life expectancy rose in 2022 — by more than a year — after plunging two straight years at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new government report released Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. The rise was mainly due to the waning of the pandemic in 2022, researchers said at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy rose last year, but it still isn’t close to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was up by more than a year in 2022, after plunging two straight years at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s now 77 years, 6 months — about what it was two decades ago.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers on Wednesday.
Researchers say the rise was mainly due the waning pandemic.
The snapshot statistic is considered one of the most important measures of the health of the U.S. population.
