U.S. Life Expectancy is Falling Further Behind its Peers

Key takeaways

• U.S. life expectancy is falling further behind the average of 11 comparable nations
• The gap has increased from 2.2 years in 2000, to 4.1 years in 2023

U.S. life expectancy stagnated in 2010

Between 2010 and 2019, life expectancy across the peer nation average increased by 1.2 years, while in the U.S. it grew by only 0.1 years.

According to Peterson-KFF, America’s stagnation in this metric is due to higher rates of suicide and overdoses, as well as the burden of chronic diseases like diabetes and kidney disease.