Health

Life expectancy falls for first time in Singapore due to Covid-19

Singapore, Oct 10 (EFE).- Singapore’s life expectancy fell for the first time on record last year due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report published Monday by the island’s statistics department.

It represents a drop of about 10 weeks, from the 83.7 years set before the start of the pandemic to 83.5 years in 2021, according to data from the Department of Statistics.

It is the first time that life expectancy has fallen in Singapore since record keeping began in 1957.

The reduction is driven by excess deaths from Covid-19, with a total of 1,629 people killed by the virus on the small island, which has less than 5.7 million residents.

However, the data is usually calculated based on the average mortality over a three-year period, and the 2021 figure is preliminary because it only takes into account the 2020-2021 period. It will be reviewed next year to include 2022.

Singapore is not the only country whose life expectancy has been undermined by the pandemic. In the United States it fell almost a year in 2021, from 77 to 76.1, according to its National Center for Health Statistics, mainly due to deaths resulting from the coronavirus.

On the contrary, life expectancy in China increased to 78.2 years in 2021, from 77.93 years in the previous year, according to the National Health Commission, for reasons that included decreases in maternal and infant mortality rates. EFE

pav/tw

Related Articles

Back to top button