Latin America is the region that lost more life expectancy at birth worldwide as a result of the effects generated by the Covid-19 pandemic with a record of 2.9 years.
A recent analysis by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) revealed that from 75.1 years in 2019, life expectancy dropped to 72.1 in 2021, and the most affected area was Central America with a loss of 3.6 years.
According to projections in the report, this situation could start reversing in 2022 due to the vaccination process and the measures adopted by the countries to address the health situation.
The text added that the population will begin to decrease in approximately 34 years. In 1950 and 1951, it went from an average annual growth of 4.5 million people to a maximum of about 8.3 million in the early 1990s.
This situation was reversed after 1991, when the population slowed down to a rate of less than five million people, according to ECLAC.
The research highlighted that there is a relatively accelerated aging process, whose data show that by 2047 the population aged 60 and over could surpass the age group under 15 years old.
The global fertility rate was estimated at 1.85 live births per woman in 2022, a figure below replacement level since 2015, ECLAC stressed. (PL)
