In 2024, life expectancy in the U.S. rose to 79 years, the highest figure in the country's history.
In comparison, life expectancy at birth in the European Union is 81.7 years. In Latvia, it is 76.7 years.
This is the result not only of the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic but also of a reduction in mortality from all major causes, including heart disease, cancer, and drug overdoses.
Additionally, preliminary statistics indicate a continued improvement in 2025.
Robert Anderson from the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the 2024 data on Thursday, said, "Overall, this is good news on all fronts."
Life expectancy, one of the key indicators of population health, is an estimate of the average number of years a child born in a given year will live, based on mortality rates at that time.
For decades, this figure in the U.S. has risen slightly almost every year due to advancements in medicine and public health measures. The peak was in 2014, when the figure was just under 79 years.
For several years, the figure remained relatively stable, then sharply declined when the COVID-19 pandemic claimed the lives of more than 1.2 million Americans. In 2021, life expectancy fell to just below 76.5 years. Since then, it has been recovering.
According to Boston University researcher Andrew Stokes, this data reflects not only a full recovery from the pandemic but also a sustained improvement in the epidemic of overdose deaths.
The bad news is that the U.S. still lags behind dozens of other countries, Stokes noted.
He added that "there is still a lot of work to be done."
In comparison, preliminary data for 2024 shows that life expectancy at birth in the EU is 81.7 years.
In 2024, about 3.07 million people died in the U.S., which is about 18,000 fewer than the previous year. Mortality rates decreased across all racial and ethnic groups, among both men and women.
Heart disease remained the leading cause of death in the country, but mortality from it decreased by about 3% for the second consecutive year. A combination of factors likely contributed, including progress in treatment and weight management, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, who treats and studies patients with heart disease at Northwestern University.
The number of deaths from unintentional injuries (which includes drug overdoses) decreased the most: in 2024, it fell by more than 14%. COVID-19, which was once the third leading cause of death in the country, dropped out of the top ten in 2024.
The decline in COVID-19 mortality led to suicides entering the top ten, although their number decreased in 2024. The number of homicides also fell that year, according to a report released this week.
Mortality statistics for 2025 are not yet final, but preliminary data indicate about 3.05 million registered deaths. This figure may rise as additional death certificates are collected and analyzed; however, Anderson said he expects at least a slight improvement compared to 2024.
