In 2022, the average life expectancy for men fell 0.42 years from 2021 to 81.05 years. For women, the figure dropped 0.49 years to 87.09 years. The drops were primarily due to an increase in the number of deaths from COVID-19, a ministry official said. The two consecutive years of decline were the first since 2009-2011. The pandemic shortened the lifespan of women by 0.13 years. The figure for men was 0.12 years. The number of deaths related to COVID-19 reached 47,635 in 2022, a 2.8-fold increase from the previous year.