(CNN) Life expectancy in the US dropped a full year in the first half of 2020, according to a report published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. The life expectancy for the entire US population fell to 77.8 years, similar to what it was in 2006, CDC data shows. Compared to 2019 , life expectancy for non-Hispanic Black people in the US fell about three times what it did for non-Hispanic White people, by 2.7 years. Between 2014 and 2017 -- a peak period of the opioid epidemic -- life expectancy declined a third of a year, which itself was significant. "Those deaths have a significant effect on life expectancy because they contribute to more foregone years of life," she told CNN.

Source: CNN February 18, 2021 05:26 UTC