Life expectancy in the U.S. fell for the second year in a row in 2016, a trend that hasn't happened in other parts of the developed world was fueled by a 21 percent rise in drug-overdose related deaths.
"With the leveling off of cardiovascular deaths you don't have that decline to offset the increases seen with drug overdoses," said Robert Anderson, a chief statistician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "As a result, the drug overdose deaths have risen to prominence and are driving what is happening with overall mortality."
Life expectancy in 2016 was an average of 78.6 years, a decrease of 0.1 years from 2015, according to federal mortality data released Thursday. The study's researchers say it was the first time life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped two years in a row since declines observed in 1962 and 1963. The latest change was driven by a reduced life expectancy in males, which fell from 76.3 years in 2015 to 76.1 years in 2016.
Anderson and his team have begun monitoring data from 2017 as well. Though it won't be available publicly until about a year from now, he said he already is beginning to see that deaths from drug overdoses are still rising.
"What we have is provisional and not complete, but we are seeing an increase nonetheless," he said. "We may be in for a third year of life expectancy decline, which we haven't seen for 100 years."
Get the Exclusive
01.23.2025