U.S. life expectancy fell by one year in 2020, CDC data shows

Life expectancy in the United States fell by a year in the first half of 2020 - the biggest decline since World War 2 - and stood at the lowest levels since 2006, according to estimates issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.

While the estimates are provisional, and do not reflect the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC said it was publishing provisional data for the first time in order to assess the effect of excess deaths in 2020.

Excess deaths are the difference between the number of expected deaths and the actual number.