Impact of COVID-19 on subnational variations in life expectancy and life disparity at birth in India: evidence from NFHS and SRS data

BACKGROUND: Measuring life expectancy and life disparity can assist in comprehending how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mortality estimates in the Indian population. The present study aims to study the life expectancy and life disparity at birth at the national and subnational levels before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using the NFHS and SRS data. METHODS: The measures Life expectancy at birth ([Formula: see text] ) and Life disparity at birth ([Formula: see text] ) were computed for the non-pandemic and pandemic years from NFHS (2015–16), SRS (2015) and NFHS (2019–21), SRS (2020) respectively at the national and Subnational level in India. Using NFHS data for the 36 states and SRS data for the 22 states, the study calculates [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] by total, male and female population. RESULTS: The [Formula: see text] for male and female decline from 64.3 years and 69.2 years in 2015–16 to 62.9 years and 68.9 years in 2019–21. The [Formula: see text] shows a drop of approximately 1.4 years for males and 0.3 years for females in the pandemic year 2019–21 when compared to the non-pandemic year 2015–16. At the subnational level [Formula: see text] shows a decline for 22 states in person, 23 states in males and 21 states in females in the pandemic year 2019–21 as compared to the non-pandemic years 2015–16. The [Formula: see text] shows a increase for 21 states in person, 24 states in females and 17 states in males in the pandemic year than non-pandemic year. The findings shows a significant losses in [Formula: see text] and gains in [Formula: see text] for males than females in the pandemic year as compared to the non-pandemic year at the subnational level in India. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 pandemic has decreased [Formula: see text] and increased [Formula: see text] in the pandemic year 2019–21 at the national and subnational level in India. COVID-19 had a significant impact on the age pattern of mortality for many states and male, female population and delayed the mortality transition in India. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13690-023-01170-8.