Life expectancy is back to pre-pandemic levels, according to global health research — but mortality rates for teens and young adults are of growing concern.
The latest release of The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) includes new and updated estimates of all-cause mortality and life expectancy from 1950 to 2023.
Combining data from more than 24,000 sources, including surveys and censuses, the report includes mortality estimates during crises like COVID-19.
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The number of deaths between 1950 and 2023 increased by 35% due to population growth and aging — but the age-standardized mortality rate fell by 66.6%, which indicates that people are living much longer overall.
Global life expectancy increased drastically from 1950 to 2019. For females, it rose from 51.2 years to 76.3 years, while male expectancy was up from 47.9 years to 71.4 years in the same period.
The coronavirus pandemic caused a temporary drop in global life expectancy, as females fell to 74.7 years and males to 69.3 years.
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Between 2022 and 2023, life expectancy returned to pre-pandemic levels — with females at 76.3 years and males at 71.5 years.
The study found that 95% of countries showed some recovery, while 62% fully recovered or improved beyond 2019 levels.
While global life expectancy is up, youth and young adult mortality rates increased between 2011 and 2023, according to the report.
In North America, mortality rates for those aged 5 to 14 years rose 11.5%. They spiked by 31.7% for those aged 25 to 29, and they rose by nearly 50% for the 30- to 39-year-old group.
In Eastern Europe, the largest increase in mortality occurred in those aged 15 to 19 years old with a 53.9% increase, and those between 20 and 24 saw a 40.1% increase.
The researchers pointed to possible reasons mortality is rising in younger individuals, including substance use and behavioral health issues in North America and Latin America.
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This involves "deaths of despair," such as drug overdoses, alcohol-related complications and suicide driven by economic, social and psychological factors.
The researchers emphasized that policy priorities for mortality reduction around the world "must shift if they are to best address this reality."
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"Policy-makers in these locations should thus prioritize policies that improve access to care and address the social determinants of health for these age groups in particular," the authors commented.
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"The findings from this study will help inform policy development, implementation and evaluation to ensure that healthcare systems, economies and societies are prepared to address the world's greatest health needs," they added.
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