THE FIGURE OF THE WEEK. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, life expectancy fell between 2019 and 2021 in the European Union and in the world.
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SAccording to Eurostat, the Covid-19 epidemic has reduced life expectancy at birth in the European Union by 1.2 years, from 81.3 years in 2019 to 80.1 years. It is in Bulgaria that within the EU this decline has been the most marked, with a fall of 3.7 years, down from 75.1 years in 2019 to 71.4 years in 2021.
Next come Slovakia (- 3.2 years) and Romania (- 2.8 years). In France, life expectancy fell by 0.6 years, from 83 years in 2019 to 82.4 years in 2021.
Unheard of since World War II
Globally, and according to UN data this time, the pandemic has led to a 1.8-year decline in life expectancy at birth, unheard of since World War II. It was 71 years in 2021, compared to 72.8 years in 2019. It is in the Sultanate of Oman that it has fallen the most (- 5.5 years), followed by Russia (- 4.5 years ), Botswana (- 4.4 years), Lebanon and Bolivia (- 4.2 years), Colombia and Mexico (- 4 years) and South Africa (- 3.9 years).
READ ALSOThe origin of Covid-19, the American tabooIn the United States, life expectancy fell by 1.9 years between 2019 and 2021, from 79.1 to 77.2 years. Paradoxically, some countries have seen their life expectancy increase between 2019 and 2021. This is particularly the case for Australia (+ 1.4 years), Congo (+ 0.8 years), Japan (+ 0, 4 years), Canada (+ 0.3 years), Switzerland and China (+ 0.2 years).
Over a very long period, the two years of the pandemic mark a historic break with the trend of a continuous increase in life expectancy at birth around the world. This was 28.5 years in 1800, 32 years in 1900, 46.5 years in 1950, 60.6 years in 1980 and 66.5 years in 2000.
