According to a new study released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), life expectancy in the United States bounced back in 2022 from the COVID pandemic.
Life expectancy was up by 1.1 years from 2021, rising from 76.4 years in 2021 to 77.5 years on average, the CDC study reported.
The 10 leading causes of death in 2022 remained the same as in the year before, although some ranked differently. Heart disease and cancer remained the top two leading causes in 2022, followed by unintentional injuries as a third.
Fourth on the list was COVID. However, “the number of deaths for which COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death decreased 55.3 percent,” the CDC reported.
Death rates diminished noticeably for all age groups above 15 years old, even for the oldest age group of 85 and older, while death rates increased for younger people.
The age group 5 to 14 saw a 1 percent increase in the death rate—from 14.3 to 15.3—while the group aged 1 to 4 did even worse—a 3 percent increase from 25 to 28.
The CDC observed a troubling increase in infant mortality as well, rising 3.1 percent.
“In 2022, 20,553 deaths occurred in children younger than age 1 year, which was 633 more infant deaths than in 2021,” the CDC’s report said.
The CDC data listed five causes: sudden infant death syndrome (mortality rate up 1.9 percent), maternal complications during childbirth (up 2.7 percent), bacterial infection of the newborn (up 2.1 percent), respiratory distress of the newborn (up 1.1 percent) and, lastly, accidents or “unintentional injuries” during the first year of life (up 1.3 percent).
Other potentially lethal issues such as low birth weight, cord and placental complications, and diseases of the circulatory system were down (1.8, 0.6, and 1.3 percent respectively).
Despite the overall improvement, U.S. life expectancy remains below its peak of 78.9 years recorded in 2014. It also lags behind other comparable countries.
The CDC released a second report Thursday investigating drug overdose deaths in the United States.
Death rates remained constant between 2021 and 2022, hovering around 32.5 deaths per 100,000 citizens. The CDC put these numbers in perspective by comparing them to the 2002 death rate—which was about a quarter of the current number, at 8.2 deaths per 100,000.
Here, mortality rates have shifted by age between 2021 and 2022, with drug overdose deaths increasing among adults age 35 and older, while they decreased in minors and young adults.
Drug overdose deaths increased in all racial groups, except those who are white (down 1.2 percent) and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders (down 1.3 percent). They increased for all other races, with Native Americans faring worst (up 7.6 percent), followed by black people (up 3.3 percent), Hispanics (up 1.6 percent) and Asians (up 0.6 percent).
Heroin deaths decreased by 35.7 percent between 2021 and 2022, as drug users reach for other, often more easily available, and often cheaper, alternatives.
Drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and tramadol remained virtually stable until 2014, when they began increasing spectacularly. Similarly, overdose deaths by stimulants such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and amphetamine have also been rising dramatically in the past decade.
