By Ovunc Kutlu
ANKARA (AA) - Life expectancy in the US fell by 1.8 years, the largest annual decline since World War II, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday.
Life expectancy decreased from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77 in 2020, marking "the largest single-year decrease in more than 75 years," the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics said in a report.
Behind heart disease and cancer, the coronavirus pandemic was the third leading cause of death in 2020. However, it was the biggest reason for life expectancy decline and rise in mortality rate.
While there were approximately 530,000 more deaths in the US in 2020, compared to the previous year, the mortality rate rose 43% for Hispanic males, 28% for Black males and 13% for white males.
The data came after the US population in 2021 grew at its lowest rate since the nation’s founding, according to the Census Bureau figures released Tuesday.
It also marked the first time since 1937 that the population grew by fewer than 2 million people.
The slowest rate of US population growth in the 20th century was in 1918-1919 amid the influenza pandemic and World War I, according to the Census Bureau