Journal Article

Life expectancy declines in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

Aburto, J. M., Schöley, J., Kashnitsky, I., Kashyap, R.
International Journal of Epidemiology, 51:5, 1695–1697 (2022)
Open Access
Reproducible

Abstract

Our recent study of 29 countries, which was published in IJE, highlights the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality across high-income countries. Period life expectancy witnessed declines in 2020 on a scale that is unprecedented in recent history. With the recent availability of data from Russia, we show that Russia is no exception (Figure 1). Data from death registrations indicate that life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 in Russia fell by -1.68 (95% CI: -1.72, -1.63) years among males (from 68.41 to 66.73 years) and -1.80 (95% CI: -1.85, -1.76) years for females (from 78.44 to 76.64 years). Comparisons of these losses with those among the 29 countries, as we previously reported, reveal that life expectancy losses among females were the largest in Russia, and losses among males stand only behind the USA (2.2 years) and Lithuania (1.7 years).

Keywords: Russian Federation, excess mortality, life expectancy
The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.