Life expectancy reduced by 20 years in war-torn Syria

Life expectancy reduced by 20 years in war-torn Syria

The war in Syria has plunged 80 percent of its people into poverty, reducing life expectancy by 20 years, according to "a UN-backed report."

Namely, fife expectancy in this Middle Eastern country was 75.9 years in 2010, and was estimated at 55.7 years at the end of 2014, the Syrian Center for Policy Research said.

The war that broke out in 2010 also caused "massive economic losses estimated at over USD 200 billion."

AP said that in the report, "the Syrian Center for Policy Research painted a devastating picture of the systematic collapse and destruction of Syria's economic foundations, saying the nation's wealth, infrastructure, institutions and much of its workforce have been obliterated."

Nearly 3 million Syrians are said to have lost their jobs, "which meant that more than 12 million people lost their primary source of income and unemployment surged from 14.9 percent in 2011 to 57.7 percent at the end of 2014."

The conflict coupled with the country's economic disintegration and social fragmentation "resulted in a 15 percent drop in Syria's population - from 20.87 million in 2010 to just 17.65 million at the end of last year."

"Syria now has the second-largest refugee population in the world after the Palestinians, with 3.33 million people fleeing to other countries, it said. In addition, 1.55 million Syrians left the country to find work and a safer life elsewhere while 6.8 million fled their homes but remain in Syria," the report said.

The number of deaths are now estimated at 210,000, and "together with the 840,000 wounded, this represented six percent of Syria's population killed or injured during the conflict."