Life Expectancy Increased From 2022 to 2023, Reaching 78.4 Years

Results also showed age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths decreased from 2022 to 2023, after increasing over 20 years

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Dec. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Life expectancy in the United States increased in 2023, reaching 78.4 years, while drug overdose mortality decreased from 2022 to 2023, according to two December data briefs published by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Sherry L. Murphy, from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues used data from the National Vital Statistics System to examine mortality patterns in the United States. The researchers found that from 2022 to 2023, there was an increase of 0.9 years in life expectancy for the U.S. population, reaching 78.4 years in 2023. The age-adjusted death rate decreased 6.0 percent, from 798.8 to 750.5 deaths per 100,000 standard population from 2022 to 2023. For all age groups 5 years and older, age-specific deaths rates decreased from 2022 to 2023.

Matthew F. Garnett, M.P.H., and Arialdi M. Miniño, M.P.H., also from the National Center for Health Statistics, present the rates of drug overdose deaths from the National Vital Statistics System over 20 years, focusing on changes from 2022 to 2023. The researchers found that from 2003 to 2022, there was an increase in the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths, from 8.9 to 32.6 per 100,000 standard population, but the rate decreased to 31.3 in 2023. From 2022 to 2023, rates decreased for people aged 15 to 54 years and increased for those aged 55 years and older; rates decreased for White non-Hispanic people and remained the same or increased for other race and Hispanic origin groups.

“The age-adjusted rate for drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone decreased from 2022 to 2023, the first such decrease since the large increases that began in 2013,” Garnett and Miniño write.

Data Brief 1

Data Brief 2