After reports that life expectancy for Americans was down in 2021, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) just released a report that in 2022 the life expectancy has once again increased.
The key finding in the report was that life expectancy for the U.S. population in 2022 was 77.5 years. This is an increase of 1.1 years from 2021. It increased for both males and females in 2022, but there is still a life expectancy gap between them. For males, life expectancy increased 1.3 years from 2021 to 74.8 in 2022. For females, life expectancy increased 0.9 year to 80.2 in 2022.
Heart disease and cancer remain the top 2 causes in 2022 (same as in 2021), while deaths from COVID-19 dropped from #3 in 2021 to #4. "Unintentional injuries" (e.g., accidents, drug overdose, homicide) is now #3 (it was #4 in 2021).
Excerpts from the CDC NCHS Data Brief No. 492, March 2024: Mortality in the United States, 2022 (pdf version) and the CDC page: Mortality in the United States, 2022
- Life expectancy for the U.S. population in 2022 was 77.5 years, an increase of 1.1 years from 2021.
- The age-adjusted death rate decreased by 9.2% from 879.7 deaths per 100,000 standard population in 2021 to 798.8 in 2022.
- Age-specific death rates increased from 2021 to 2022 for age groups 1–4 and 5–14 years and decreased for all age groups 15 years and older.
- The 10 leading causes of death in 2022 remained the same as in 2021, although some causes changed ranks. Heart disease and cancer remained the top 2 leading causes in 2022.
- The infant mortality rate was 560.4 infant deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022, an increase of 3.1% from the rate in 2021 (543.6).
In 2022, a total of 3,279,857 resident deaths were registered in the United States—184,374 fewer deaths than in 2021. The number of deaths for which COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death decreased 55.3% from 416,893 in 2021 to 186,552 in 2022. COVID-19 dropped from the 3rd leading cause to the 4th. The age-adjusted death rate for the total population decreased 9.2% in 2022 from 2021 after an increase of 5.3% from 2020 to 2021 (1).
Life expectancy for the total population increased 1.1 years from 2021 to 2022 (2). Age-specific death rates from 2021 to 2022 increased for age groups 1–4 and 5–14 and decreased for each age group 15–24 years and older. Age-adjusted death rates decreased in 2022 from 2021 for all race and Hispanic-origin groups for both males and females.
The 10 leading causes of death in 2022 remained the same as in 2021. Heart disease was the leading cause of death, followed by cancer. Age-adjusted death rates decreased for 9 leading causes and increased for 1. Life expectancy at birth increased 1.1 years from 76.4 in 2021 to 77.5 in 2022, largely because of decreases in mortality due to COVID-19, heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, and homicide.