Italy's life expectancy drops amid COVID-19 battle

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has cut the average life expectancy in Italy by 1.2 years.

Italy’s national statistics bureau ISTAT in a report said that compared with 2019, thenationwide life expectancy for those born in 2020 has now dropped by over one year.

According to the latest figures the nationwide life expectancy at birth last year stood at 82 years, compared to 83.2 years in 2019.

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For a child born in 2020, male life expectancy is nearly 80 years while for womenit is 84.4 years.

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"In 2020, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting sharp increase in mortality abruptly interrupted the growth in life expectancy at birth that had characterised the trend until 2019," ISTAT said.

Meanwhile, the average life expectancy for menin Italy's some of the worst-affected coronavirus provinces has dropped by more than four years.

The steep drop is more pronounced in the northern provinces of Bergamo and Cremona which was the initial epicentre of the virus outbreak in early 2020. According to government data, men have lost an average of 4.3 to 4.5 years while women have lost nearly 3.2 years in these areas.

Italy has registered over 129,500 fatalities with the majority of deaths occurring in the country's northern regions.

Italy was the first European country to face the brunt of the virus attack in March 2020 as the pandemic gripped the world even as authorities tried to curb the spread of the virus through a number of partial lockdowns and other restrictions.

Italy has so far conducted a successful vaccination programme with nearly 72 per cent of the adult population fully jabbed.

(With inputs from Agencies)