Life expectancy of the average American and Briton has dropped by more than a year following the coronavirus pandemic, data reveals.
The USA has seen a decrease in life expectancy of 1.13 years according to researchers from the University of South California. They discovered that white people were least affected by the COVID-19 outbreak with life expectancy falling by just 9 months to 77.84 years.
However, black people and Asian people have been hit much harder by the virus, with their life expectancy shrinking by more than 2/3 years to 72.78 years.
Meanwhile, a UK-focused study from Oxford University looking at the average life expectancy in 2020 found men have lost 1.2 years of lifespan since 2019, compared to just 0.9 years for women. Life expectancy for women born in Britain is now 82.6 years of age, and 78.7 for men.
Before 2020, the gap in life expectancy between black and white people in the US had shrunk to just 3.6 years, but is now almost at the five year mark. (source)
If you would like to know more about why different ethnic groups are harder hit, click here to read our blog