US life expectancy down for a second year, driven by drug overdose
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Photo: AP

The US life expectancy has declined for the second year in a row in 2016, largely driven by the rising deaths from drug overdoses.

The US Life expectancy in 2016 is 78.6 years, down from 78.7 and 78.9 in the two previous years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The last time that the US experienced a consecutive-year fall was in 1963 thanks to flu havoc.

The decline of life expectancy seems to be caused by the rising death of young US citizens. In 2016, there is a double-digit death-rate increase among people aged 25 to 34. For those who age 15 to 24 or 25 to 34, there is a 7 percent death-rate increase each.

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Photo: AP

"It seems to be driven by the increase in drug overdose death," Bob Anderson, chief of mortality statistics at CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, told ABC News.

In 2016, over 63,600 people in the US died from drug overdose, more than 11,000 increase from the previous year.

According to the CDC, the startling increase of opioid overdose deaths since 2013 is partly because of the introduction of illicitly manufactured fentanyl into the heroin market.

(Compiled by Yang Chuchu)