| A new study finds life expectancy in the United States lags behind other high-income nations by an average of nearly five years.
In 2018, life expectancy in the U.S. was 78.7 years, about three years less than the average life expectancy for 16 high-income peer countries.
WVs life expectancy leads the nation with five other mostly southern states, the earliest death rates.
In 2020, the life expectancy gap ballooned to nearly five years after the U.S. experienced a particularly high mortality rate.
No other nation experienced a decline in life expectancy as large as the U.S.
Authors of the study wrote the predominant cause for this large decline was the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other factors that have impacted Americansâ health for decades.
The US has led the world with COVID-19 deaths.
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