The average life expectancy of people across the world dropped by 1.6 years in the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is according to a new Lancet study.

The study suggests mortality rates had been steadily falling for the 70 years before Covid-19 infections began to spread.

However, the Covid years saw a reversal of this and the global mortality jumped from 2019 to 2021, rising 22% in males over age 15, and 17% for women.

Between 1950 and 2021, global life expectancy at birth increased by 22.7 years (in other words, from 49 to 71.7 years) overall. That number was impacted by a 1.6-year drop worldwide between 2019 and 202.

Of the 204 countries and territories studied by Lancet, only 32 countries saw an increase in expected life expectancy between 2019 and 2021.

Statistics

Out of the 31 million global deaths in 2020 and 2021, 12.3% of this number can be attributed to Covid-19, according to Lancet.

This is either through direct infection or social, economic or behavioural changes associated with the pandemic.

While overall mortality increased, global deaths in children saw a decline in 2020 and 2021.

A total of 5.21 million people under the age of five died in 2019, significantly higher than the 4.66 that died in 2021. Mortality rates among young children decreased by 7% from 2019 to 2021.

What about South Africa

In 2021, the probability of under-five mortality was 0.28%, indicating there was a likelihood of death before reaching the age of five.

The probability of death between ages 15 and 59 years stood at 0.44%, reflecting mortality rates during the prime years of adulthood.

Life expectancy at birth in 2021 was 64.8 years, highlighting the average lifespan of individuals born in that year.

The total number of deaths in South Africa for 2021 was 733,000, with 38.4 deaths per 1,000 people. Among these deaths, 130,000 were attributed to Covid-19.

The excess mortality rate due to Covid-19 for the years 2020-21 was 3.12 deaths per 1,000 people, underscoring the additional deaths caused by the pandemic compared to the expected mortality rate.

Over the period from 2000 to 2021, South Africa experienced a decrease in mortality rates, with an annualised rate of change of -3.3%. Both females and males showed similar trends in mortality rates and life expectancy, with slight differences between the genders.

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