COVID-19 has wiped out a decade of progress in global life expectancy

Latest edition World health statistics published today by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed the trend of steady increases in life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy at birth (HALE).

The pandemic wiped out nearly a decade of progress in improving life expectancy in just two years. Between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years to 71.4 years (back to 2012 levels). Similarly, global healthy life expectancy decreased by 1.5 years to 61.9 years in 2021 (returning to 2012 levels).

The 2024 report also highlights how the effects are felt unevenly around the world. The World Health Organization's Americas and South-East Asia regions were the hardest hit, with life expectancy falling by about 3 years and healthy life expectancy by 2.5 years between 2019 and 2021. In contrast, the Western Pacific region saw minimal affected during the first two years of the pandemic, with losses of less than 0.1 year in life expectancy and 0.2 years in healthy life expectancy.

“Great progress continues in global health, with billions of people enjoying better health, better access to services and better protection against health emergencies,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “But we must remember how fragile progress can be. In just two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out a decade of life expectancy gains. That is why the new Pandemic Agreement is so important: not only to strengthen global health security, but also to protect long-term investments in health and promote equity within and between countries.”

Non-communicable diseases remain the main killer

COVID-19 quickly became the leading cause of death, ranking as the third leading cause of death globally in 2020 and second in 2021. Nearly 13 million lives were lost during that period. The latest estimates reveal that, except in the African and Western Pacific regions, COVID-19 was among the top five causes of death, notably becoming the leading cause of death in the Americas in both years.

The WHO report also highlights that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as coronary heart disease and stroke, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and diabetes were the biggest killers before the pandemic, responsible for 74% of all deaths in In 2019, even during the pandemic, non-communicable diseases continued to account for 78% of deaths unrelated to COVID.

Increasing obesity and malnutrition

The world faces a huge and complex problem of the double burden of undernutrition, where undernutrition coexists with overweight and obesity. In 2022, over one billion people aged five and over were living with obesity, while over half a billion were undernourished. Child malnutrition was also staggering, with 148 million children under the age of five stunted (too short for their age), 45 million suffering from wasting (too thin for their height) and 37 million overweight.

The report further highlights the significant health challenges faced by people with disabilities, refugees and migrants. In 2021, about 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world's population, had a disability. This group is disproportionately affected by health inequalities resulting from avoidable unfair and unfair conditions.

Access to health care for refugees and migrants remains limited, with only half of the 84 countries surveyed between 2018 and 2021 providing these groups with publicly funded health services at levels comparable to their own citizens. This underscores the urgent need for health systems to adapt and address persistent inequities and the changing demographic needs of the global population.

Progress towards the triple billion goals and SDGs

Despite the setback caused by the pandemic, the world has made some progress towards achieving the three billion targets and health-related indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Since 2018, an additional 1.5 billion people have achieved better health and well-being. Despite the gains, rising obesity, high tobacco use and persistent air pollution are holding back progress.

Universal health coverage was extended to an additional 585 million people, short of the target of one billion. In addition, only 777 million more people are likely to be adequately protected during health emergencies by 2025, below the one billion target set by the 13 WHO^th General program of work. This protection is becoming increasingly important as the effects of climate change and other global crises increasingly threaten health security.

“Although we have made progress towards the three billion targets since 2018, there is still a lot to be done. Data is WHO's superpower. We need to use it better to achieve greater impact in countries,” said Dr Samira Asma, WHO's Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact. “Without accelerating progress, it is unlikely that any of the health Sustainable Development Goals will be met by 2030.”

Editor's note:

The World Health Statistics Report is WHO's annual compilation of the latest available data on health and health indicators. For inquiries please contact [email protected]