Background Australia provides a valuable international case study of life expectancy during the pandemic. In contrast to many other countries, it experienced relatively stringent restrictions and low COVID-19 mortality during 2020–21, followed by relaxation of these restrictions when high vaccination rates were achieved. This study measures Australia’s life expectancy trends and the contributions of age group and causes of death, during the pandemic. Methods Trends in life expectancy at birth in Australia and its states and territories were measured from 2020 to 2022. The contributions of age group and cause of death to these trends were measured using decomposition methods. Life expectancy was compared with other high-income countries. Results Australia’s life expectancy fell by more than half a year in 2022, following a sharp increase in 2020 and moderate decline in 2021. For the 3 years 2020 to 2022, life expectancy was 0.13 years (95% confidence interval 0.07-0.19) higher for males and 0.09 years (0.03-0.14) higher for females versus 2017–19. Australia’s life expectancy increase in 2020 was larger than that in the vast majority of other high-income countries, but its decline in 2022 was greater than in other countries whose life expectancy rose in the first year of the pandemic. The small negative contribution of COVID-19 deaths to life expectancy in Australia was more than offset by lower non-communicable disease mortality. There were only small differences in life expectancy change between the states with the most stringent restrictions (Victoria and New South Wales) and the rest of Australia. Conclusions Australia’s life expectancy trends during 2020–22 were relatively favourable compared with other high-income countries, with the exception of its sharp decline in 2022 once restrictions were loosened.

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19 大流行对澳大利亚预期寿命的影响，2020-22 年

背景澳大利亚提供了关于大流行期间预期寿命的宝贵国际案例研究。与许多其他国家相比，该国在 2020-21 年期间经历了相对严格的限制和较低的 COVID-19 死亡率，随后在实现高疫苗接种率后放松了这些限制。这项研究衡量了大流行期间澳大利亚的预期寿命趋势以及年龄组和死亡原因的贡献。方法测量了 2020 年至 2022 年澳大利亚及其各州和领地出生时预期寿命的趋势。使用分解方法测量了年龄组和死因对这些趋势的贡献。预期寿命与其他高收入国家进行了比较。结果 继 2020 年大幅增长和 2021 年小幅下降之后，澳大利亚的预期寿命在 2022 年下降了半年以上。2020 年至 2022 年的 3 年中，澳大利亚人的预期寿命增加了 0.13 岁（95% 置信区间 0.07-0.19）。与 2017-19 年相比，男性增加了 0.09 岁（0.03-0.14）。澳大利亚2020年预期寿命增幅高于绝大多数其他高收入国家，但其2022年预期寿命下降幅度大于其他在疫情第一年预期寿命上升的国家。COVID-19 死亡对澳大利亚预期寿命的微小负面影响被非传染性疾病死亡率的降低所抵消。限制最严格的州（维多利亚州和新南威尔士州）与澳大利亚其他地区之间的预期寿命变化只有很小的差异。结论 与其他高收入国家相比，澳大利亚 2020-22 年的预期寿命趋势相对有利，但限制放松后 2022 年预期寿命急剧下降。