Native American and Alaska Native populations were the only Americans to see no increase whatsoever in life expectancy in the two decades preceding the Covid pandemic, living 73.1 years on average in 2019 — nearly six years less than white Americans.
The figures were included in a new detailed analysis of life expectancy published Thursday that showed that overall life expectancy for Americans rose slightly over the period, to 79.1 years in 2019, but that persistent and widespread disparities remained between different racial and ethnic groups.