Life expectancy in New Jersey is once again rising, after falling dramatically in 2020 largely due to the pandemic, according to new state data.

The average life expectancy in the state, for all residents and genders was 79.3 years in 2021, up from 77.9 in 2020 but not yet back to the 2019 life expectancy age of 80.6.

However, when broken down by gender, woman continue to have a much greater life expectancy then men, with an average of 81.9 in 2021, compared to just 76.6 for men.

Life expectancy was slowly increasing among all racial and ethnic groups as well as among both males and females in the state until 2015.

Small declines in overall life expectancy were experienced the following three years before again increasing slightly in 2019.

The pandemic caused the average life expectancy (ALE) among all New Jersey residents to decline 3 years in 2020 but varied among different groups.

Between 2019 and 2020, ALE declined by 7.7 years among Hispanics, 6.1 years among Asians, 4.7 years among Blacks, and 1.7 years among Whites. Males declined 3.3 years while the decline among females was 2.4 years

In Ocean County, which has the fourth-highest percentage of residents older than 85 in the United States, the overall average was 78.0; or 75.5 for men and 80.5 for woman.

Although much of the decline can be attributed to COVID, drug overdoses and other “unintentional injuries” were a large factor as well.

For several years prior to the pandemic, the life expectancy in New Jersey averaged at 80.6.

The new data also provided the average life expectancy after adults reached age 65, when they are considered senior citizens.

Overall, in the state, adults were projected to live an additional 19.8 years after reaching age 65 in 2021, slightly higher than the average for the country as a whole.