COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Excess Mortality and Potential Years of Life Lost in the U.S. and Peer Countries

A new issue brief reviews excess death rates in the U.S. and peer countries by age groups to examine how the pandemic has affected excess mortality rate among younger people. The analysis looks specifically at the excess deaths that arose in 2020 to examine how the age at death during the pandemic has differed between the U.S. and peer nations, and estimates the excess potential years of life lost (a measure of “premature excess death”) during the pandemic. The brief also explores racial disparities in the age of death in the U.S.

The analysis is available on the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, an online information hub dedicated to monitoring and assessing the performance of the U.S. health system.