JEFFERSON CITY — Missourians’ life expectancy dropped in 2018, fueled by an increase in suicides, overdoses and homicides, according to a report released this month by the state Department of Health and Senior Services.

The report, released annually by the department, said life expectancy last year dropped to 77.0 years from 77.1 years in 2017 — down from a peak of 77.8 years in 2012.

That means Missourians are living 1.6 fewer years than the nation as a whole, according to the report. (The report said the most recent national life expectancy was 78.6 years.)

Since 2012, life expectancy for those 65 years or older stayed the same, while the life expectancy for everyone else decreased, the report said.

“(T)he decrease in the life expectancy is more a reflection of increases in death rates among younger persons for external causes such as drug overdoses, suicides and homicides,” according to the report.

The death rate for residents ages 15 to 44 has increased nearly 30% since 2012. The death rate for Missourians from ages 45 to 64 increased by 13% in that time, while the death rate for seniors “has changed very little, and in fact has decreased slightly,” according to the report.