Life expectancy in North Carolina fell by 1.5 years from 2019 to 2020, according to new CDC data.
By the numbers: North Carolinians lived to an average age of 76.1 — lower than the national average of 77.
- Women in the state (79) tended to live longer than men (73.3).
The big picture: Nationwide, life expectancy dropped by 1.8 years. The decline is mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increases in unintentional injuries, specifically drug overdose deaths, Axios' Jacob Knutson reports.
- In 2020, COVID-19 caused approximately 375,000 deaths in the U.S., while over 91,700 people died of a drug overdose.
- A study released in April 2022 showed that U.S. life expectancy likely again dropped in 2021.
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