CANBERRAjolibetph4com, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Australia's life expectancy fell for the first time in almost 30 years during the COVID-19 pandemicjolibetph4com, a government report has revealed.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Tuesday released its latest biennial flagship report on the nation's health.

It revealed that the life expectancy of a child born in Australia between 2020 and 2022 was 81.2 years for males and 85.3 years for females, down 0.1 years for both compared to children born between 2019 and 2021.

According to the AIHW, it marks the first time since the mid-1990s that Australia's life expectancy has decreased.

The report attributed the fall to an increase in deaths in Australia in 2022, almost half of which were due to COVID-19.■