National Center for Health Statistics Archives

Signs posted on March 31, 2021, direct visitors to COVID-19 testing sites on the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium campus in Anchorage. Average life expectancy in Alaska declined that year more than in any other U.S. state, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Nationally, life expectancy declined, a trend driven by COVID-19 but also by drug overdoses, health experts say. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska’s life-expectancy drop was biggest among all states in pandemic year of 2021, CDC says

by Yereth Rosen - The Alaska Beacon September 30, 2024September 30, 2024

Alaska had the biggest decline in average life expectancy of all U.S. states in 2021, a year when health outcomes were heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent national report. Alaska’s life expectancy in 2021 was 74.5 years, down from the average of 76.6 years in 2020, according to the report from […]