The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the biggest drops in life expectancy since World War II in most developed countries, shows a study published Monday, September 27 by the University of Oxford.
Life expectancy fell by more than six months compared to 2019 in 22 of the 29 countries analyzed in the study, which covers Europe, the United States and Chile. Overall, reductions in life expectancy have been seen in 27 of 29 countries, most of which could be linked to official deaths from Covid-19, according to the University of Oxford.
“The fact that our results highlight such a significant impact directly attributable to Covid-19 shows how devastating it has been for many countries”, said Dr Ridhi Kashyap, lead author of the article, published inInternational Journal of Epidemiology.
Men’s life expectancy has fallen further
In most countries, the life expectancy of men has fallen more than that of women, with the largest drop seen among men in the United States, who saw their life expectancy reduced by 2.2 years per year. compared to 2019.
Life expectancy for men also fell by more than a year in 15 countries, compared to 11 countries for women, erasing the gains made in mortality in previous years.
In the United States, the increase in the death rate has mainly affected people of working age and those under 60, while in Europe, deaths of people over 60 contributed more to the increased mortality.
The pandemic has killed at least 4,744,890 worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources. The United States is the most affected country with 688,033 deaths, followed by Brazil (594,443), India (447,194), Mexico (275,450) and Russia (204,679). The World Health Organization estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher.
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