The U.S. life expectancy for Black and Hispanic Americans declined by three years in 2020, while the average life expectancy fell by a year and a half, according to The Associated Press.

The COVID-19 pandemic is reportedly the main factor for the decline, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts say the disease is responsible for nearly 74% of the overall life expectancy drop.

U.S. life expectancy has been falling since 2015, following decades of increase, AP reported. The CDC said that life expectancy fell to around 77 years, 4 months in 2020. In 2019, the life expectancy was 78 years, 10 months.

Black Americans’ life expectancy dropped to 71 years, 10 months, the lowest it’s been since 2000. COVID-19 caused life expectancy to decline among Black Americans by 59%.

Hispanic Americans’ life expectancy fell from 81 years, 8 months to 78 years, 8 months, as reported by the NCHS’s National Vital Statistics System.

The life expectancy for 2021 is expected to decline as well because too many people died from COVID-19 this year, according to Princeton University researcher Noreen Goldman.

“We can’t. In 2021, we can’t get back to pre-pandemic [life expectancy],” Goldman told AP