Researchers from the University of Washington report in the journal ‘The Lancet’ that global life expectancy increased by 6.2 years between 1990 and 2021. However, the corona pandemic led to a decline in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021. According to the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factors Study, Covid-19 was the second leading cause of death in 2021.
According to a study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), led by researchers such as Simon Hay, 2019 saw the same common causes of death as in 1990: coronary heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lower mortality rates. gastrointestinal infections Respiratory tract.
However, the corona pandemic has changed this ranking. According to the research, Covid-19 was the third most common cause of death in 2020, while in 2021 it was second even ahead of stroke.
Major regional differences
Global life expectancy fell by 1.6 years between 2019 and 2021 due to corona-related deaths. However, there were clear regional differences: in South East Asia, East Asia and Oceania, life expectancy fell by only 0.4 years due to Covid, while in Latin America and the Caribbean it was hit hardest, with a drop of 3, 6 years.
Decrease in the number of deaths from respiratory infections
The overall observed increase in global life expectancy between 1990 and 2021 was partly influenced by a 1.1-year decline in deaths from intestinal infections such as diarrhea. Another major contributor to the increase in life expectancy was the decline in deaths from lower respiratory tract infections, resulting in an increase of 0.9 years between 1990 and 2021. Reduced deaths from stroke and coronary heart disease were also reported as important factors mentioned.
Graph: Deaths in Austria since 2014
The study, based on mortality estimates for 288 causes of death in more than 200 countries and territories, was conducted by more than 11,000 workers from more than 160 countries and territories. It is based on more than 56,000 data sources, including autopsies, censuses and cancer registries.
Estimates of the impact of Covid are derived from analyzes of excess mortality due to the pandemic between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021.
Source: Krone
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