Aftermath? US Life Expectancy Falls Sharply

Is this over, or almost over, or almost over here? Maybe it is to soon to say “aftermath”.

But not good.

The National Center for Health Statistics (I think they are part of the CDC) updated its life expectancy numbers for the United States. They are down.

Average life expectancy for all Americans declined by 1.5 years. For men it declined 1.8 years, for women 1.2 years. For the Hispanic population the decline was 3.0 years, for Blacks 2.9 years, and for non-Hispanic whites 1.2 years.

The overall number of 77.3 years is the lowest since 2003. Depending on subgroups, the numbers match those from 2000, or 2003, or 2005.

This report is based on preliminary numbers, which may be adjusted. But no adjustments could possibly make these numbers look good.