U.S. Life Expectancy Dropped a Full Year in First Half of 2020, According to CDC

Life expectancy in the United States decreased a full year in the first six months of last year, according to a newly published report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics and cited by CNN . Experts say that the coronavirus was a major factor contributing to the decline. The life expectancy for the entire American population dipped to 77.8 years, or around what it was in 2006, CDC data shows. Changes to life expectancy also widened ethnic and racial inequities. Compared to 2019, life expectancy for non-Hispanic Black people in the U.S. declined nearly three times what it did for non-Hispanic White people (by 2.7 years). It dropped by twice as much for Hispanic people, or by 1.9 years.