Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Global Life Expectancy
The coronavirus pandemic had a significant impact on global life expectancy, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO). Here are the key findings:
Global Life Expectancy
- The pandemic led to a decrease of almost two years in global life expectancy, bringing it down to 71.4 years.
- This decrease wiped out a decade of progress, returning life expectancy to the level seen in 2012.
Healthy Life Expectancy
- The average time a person can expect to live in good health also declined by 1.5 years, reaching 61.9 years in 2021.
- This level is equivalent to the healthy life expectancy in 2012.
Regional Variances
The impact of the pandemic varied across different regions:
- The Americas and Southeast Asia experienced the most significant decline in life expectancy, with a drop of around three years.
- In contrast, the Western Pacific region saw a minimal decrease of only 0.1 years in life expectancy.
These findings underscore the profound impact of Covid-19 on global health and the importance of strengthening global health security to mitigate such crises in the future.