Why is America rich and spends a lot of money on health care, but its average life expectancy is still low?

The average American life expectancy is at the bottom of the list of 48 countries surveyed at 76.4 years. The United States is overshadowed by most other developed nations.

The average life expectancy of Americans is 76.4 years, not high compared to developed countries. (Illustration photo source: 1thcm)

Recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that American life expectancy has plummeted to its lowest level in nearly 30 years. According to the World Bank, the US recorded such a lower life expectancy in 1996, 27 years ago.

Of the 48 countries surveyed, the United States ranked 34th. In 2003, it ranked 10th. That change put the country in the top six countries with the largest decline in life expectancy.

Average life expectancy in OECD and partner countries is 80.3 years, with Switzerland at the top (83.9 years) and Latvia at the bottom (73.1 years). On average, women live longer than men. The gender gap is 5.4 years: women (83 years) versus men (77.6 years).

Life expectancy in these countries has fallen by 0.7 years due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This figure will start to rise again in 2022. However, the report notes that the increase started slowly even before the pandemic, especially for women.

According to the NY Post , heart disease (the leading cause of death in Americans), stroke, obesity, and diabetes (cases of which are expected to double by 2050) are the major diseases affecting the health of people worldwide .

Air pollution, smoking and alcohol consumption are considered the leading risk factors hindering increased life expectancy.

Data shows that the US has a lower rate of daily smoking than other countries. However, the US has higher per capita alcohol consumption and pollution-related death rates than other developed countries.

Not only that, the US is also struggling with an obesity epidemic, with the country's overweight population worse than average.

“The United States may be one of the richest countries in the world and certainly spends more on health care than any other country,” said Dr. Steven Woolf. “But Americans are sicker and die earlier than people in dozens of countries.” This assessment is similar to the OECD report.

Even Americans who lead healthy lifestyles, such as not being overweight or not smoking, appear to have higher rates of the disease than their peers in other countries, according to Dr. Woolf's research published in the American Journal of Public Health .

“The new analysis shows that premature death in Americans is a much larger and more enduring public health problem than previously realized,” Dr. Woolf added.

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