Global life expectancy falls after Covid pandemic

Some countries saw a drop of more than four years, new report finds

Global life expectancy has dropped by nearly two years since the Covid pandemic started, the UN says (AFP via Getty Images)

Global life expectancy has fallen since the Covid pandemic hit, according to the United Nations.

The world average was nearly two years lower in 2021 compared to 2019, its latest world population report found.

In some countries, such as Bolivia and Russia, the decline was even more dramatic at more than four years.

The first case of Covid was recorded in China in late 2019, before other countries started to detect infections from the start of 2020.

Since then, more than 6.7 million people are estimated to have died from the virus, according to a tally by Reuters.

The UN found the Covid pandemic has driven changes to world population in a new report published on Monday.

It said global life expectancy fell to 71 years in 2021 - down from 72.8 years in 2019.

This was “mostly” due to the impact of the Covid pandemic, according to the World Population Prospects 2022 report.

“The pandemic’s impact on life expectancy has varied across regions and countries,” it said.

“In Central and Southern Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean, life expectancy at birth fell by almost three years between 2019 and 2021.

“By contrast, the combined population of Australia and New Zealand gained 1.2 years due to lower mortality risks during the pandemic for some causes of death,”

Meanwhile, the UN said the Covid pandemic had been responsible for a “significant reducation in life expectancy” in some countries.

Bolivia, Botswana, Lebanon, Mexico, Oman and Russia saw a drop of more than four years between 2019 and 2021, the report said.

The UN estimated global life expectancy would bounce back and rise to around 77.2 years in 2050.