Life expectancy in the United States declined 1.87 years from 2019 to after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, more than any of 21 other high-income countries—with greater losses in Hispanic and Black populations, according to a modeling study published today in JAMA Network Open.

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University estimated life expectancy in the United States and 21 peer countries using a simulation of life tables based on national death and population data in 2019 and 2020. Life expectancy reflects how long a group of people can expect to live were they to experience at each age the age-specific mortality rates of that year, the study authors noted.

Peer countries were Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England and Wales combined, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Taiwan.