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U.S. life expectancy decreases for second year in a row thanks to COVID-19, drug overdoses

Once again, life expectancy has decreased in the U.S.

That’s according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control which cited COVID-19 and drug overdoses from fentanyl as the greatest contributing causes.

It marks the second year in a row for the grim data, according to Will Humble, director of the Arizona Public Health Association.

“A lot of the years lost were in those folks in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. That’s a combination both of people who died from COVID in 2021 but also poisonings. That’s how fentanyl overdoses are classified,” he said.  

According to the data, the average lifespan in 2021 was 76.4 years, down from 77 the prior year.

Tom Maxedon was the host of KJZZ’s Weekend Edition from 2017 to 2024.