Life expectancy at birth in the United States has dropped for the third year in a row, primarily due to surging rates of drug overdoses and suicides.
From 1959 to 2014, Americans' life expectancy steadily rose, with brief dips in 1962-1963 from flu outbreaks and 1993 amid the AIDS epidemic—rare exceptions in an otherwise upward trend. Since 2014, however, it has declined consistently, a troubling pattern for one of the world's wealthiest nations.
“Americans often overestimate their superiority in health and medicine,” says Steven Woolf, lead author of the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “We assume we have the world's best healthcare and longest lifespans—but the data tells a different story.”
Drawing from over 50 years of data in the CDC's WONDER database, researchers found life expectancy grew from 69.9 years in 1959 to 78.9 years by 2013, stagnated briefly, then began falling steadily post-2014. It now stands at 78.6 years.
Analyzing 35 causes of death, key drivers emerged: opioid overdoses, obesity, liver disease, and suicide. Suicide rates among ages 25-64 rose nearly 40% from 1959-2013. Alcohol-related liver disease surged 160% among 25-34-year-olds, while obesity-linked deaths climbed 114% in the same group. Men faced higher premature mortality than women.
These trends signal profound despair, per the researchers. Midwest states, ravaged by job losses in steel and coal industries, show the sharpest declines—pushing many in financial distress toward alcohol and drugs.
Not all regions are affected equally: life expectancy rose from 2010-2017 in Hawaii, California, and Pacific Northwest areas.
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