Life expectancy in the U.S. plummeted by an entire year in the first half of 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, the biggest decline since World War Two, said official figures released on Thursday.

Preliminary data from January through June 2020 showed life expectancy at birth for the total U.S. population fell from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.8 years, the lowest since 2006, according to the study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

Minorities were the hardest hit. Life expectancy for African American populations dropped the most from 2019, by 2.7 years to 72 years, hitting a new low since 2001. Latinos experienced the second-biggest decline, falling by 1.9 years since 2019 to a life expectancy of 79.9 years, lower than when it was first recorded in 2006.

The figures "do not reflect the entirety of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, or other changes in causes of death, such as the increases in provisional drug overdose deaths," it said.

Minorities have suffered high COVID-19 fatalities partly due to employees who cannot work from home, larger households and poorer access to health care including testing.

The country has so far registered 490,000 coronavirus deaths, by far the highest national death toll anywhere in the world.

(With input from AFP.)