Babies born in 2022 in the US gained about a year in life expectancy compared to those born a year earlier, according to federal data released today, marking progress after two straight years of declines largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Life expectancy at birth for newborns in 2022 was 77.5 years, from 76.4 in 2021 but still down from 78.8 for babies born in 2019, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It will take “some time to get back to where we were in 2019 before the pandemic,” said Elizabeth Arias, a CDC researcher who worked on this study.

The study estimates the life expectancy of the babies if the conditions of mortality which existed when they were born are to be maintained throughout their lives.

“There were positive findings across the board…all racial and gender groups had increases in life expectancy,” Arias stated.

Life expectancy rose above 2021 levels for most non-Hispanic, American Indian, or Alaska Native births by 2.3 years, from 65.6 to 67.9, followed by an increase of 2.2 years for babies from Hispanic families from 77.8 to 80.

Black, non-Hispanic Americans disproportionately affected by the pandemicsaw life expectancy increase by 1.6 years, from 71.2 to 72.8, largely thanks to a reduction in mortality due to COVID-19, as well as reductions in deaths from heart disease, suicide, diabetes and cancer.

Life expectancy increased by 1 year for those of Asian descentnon-Hispanic infants at 84.5 years and by 0.8 year for white, non-Hispanic infants at 77.5.

In all groups, past declines in mortality due to COVID explained over 80% of increases in life expectancyaccording to the study.

As usual, life expectancy remains longer for women. In 2020, the gender gap reached 6 years, a level not seen since 1996. In 2022, this gap narrowed to 5.4 years, down from 5.8 years in 2021.

Figures for 2022 are provisional, which means they can change and are subject to several restrictions, such as the difference in when death certificates are filed in some areas.