US life expectancy worse than thought, study says; COVID, guns among factors

Life expectancy in the United States is worse than previously thought when compared with other developed nations and regions, because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, decades of societal strain such as increasing gun-related deaths, and a lack of affordable healthcare, according to a study.

The study, published this month in the American Journal of Public Health, said that more than 50 countries or regions have overtaken the US in life expectancy, despite it being one of the world's richest nations.

Steven Woolf, author of the study and director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at the Virginia Commonwealth Institute, said the problem was worse than previously thought.

"The US life expectancy disadvantage began in the 1950s and has steadily worsened over the past four decades," Woolf wrote in the study. "Dozens of globally diverse countries (and regions) have outperformed the United States."

In 1950, Norway had the highest life expectancy. The US ranked 12th then, the study found.

In 2019, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region had the highest life expectancy in the world. In comparison, the US ranked 40th.

Furthermore, by 2020, the life expectancy in Hong Kong was 85.2 years, according to the United Nations, but the US had fallen to 77.4 years.

Figures show that increases in US life expectancy have generally slowed since the 1950s, although the rate accelerated 0.34 of a year annually between 1974 and 1982. Life expectancy has grown the slowest in the US Midwest and south-central regions.

From 2020-21, life expectancy in the US fell by 0.9 of a year, from 77.0 to 76.1 — the lowest level recorded since 1996, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That allowed 56 other countries or regions on six continents to overtake the US on life expectancy.

Several other factors have contributed to a shortening of lifespans in the US, including COVID-19, which accounted for the deaths of more than 1.1 million people in the US. In 2020, the US dropped to the 46th spot as the virus became the third leading cause of death in the US, the National Institutes of Health reported.

The lack of access to affordable health insurance for some in the US was also detrimental. Uninsured people in the US are 40 percent more likely to die prematurely than those who are insured, the Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance found.

In 2021, the leading causes of deaths were health related, including heart disease, cancer and COVID-19.

Guns are another factor straining life expectancy. More deaths in the US were related to firearms in 2021, when there were at least 48,830 such deaths, than any other year, the CDC said.

Meanwhile, as of 2022, Switzerland — which also has a high rate of gun ownership — had a life expectancy of 83 years.

Martin Killias, a retired professor of criminology and criminal law at the University of Zurich Law School in Switzerland, said he believes that the use and ownership of guns in Switzerland is different from that of the US.

In Switzerland, "among owners of guns, they are seen as a piece of memory, of a military past, a tool for sports, hunting, target shooting, but not as a symbol of freedom," Killias told China Daily.

belindarobinson@chinadailyusa.com