The average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped for the second year in a row, as COVID-19 deaths and drug overdoses pulled the average life expectancy down by almost a year to 76.1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The drop was smaller than the 1.8 year decline that we saw in 2020, but it’s still disturbing. Deaths attributed to flu, pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease declined in 2021. The combined figures for the last two years are the biggest drop in life expectancy since the 1920’s.
