Deaths in Australia

Rates of death and leading causes of death differ between population groups. This may be driven by variations in the population characteristics, causes of death at different ages, characteristics of the place where people live, the prevalence of illness and risk factors, and access to health services.

Deaths reported in this section are over a 5-year period combined (2018–2022), and rates are reported as crude rates and by age-standardised rates to allow comparisons to be made between population groups with differing age structures.

First Nations people

Data on deaths for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people in this section relate to the 5 jurisdictions in which the quality of Indigenous status identification is of sufficient quality for reporting – New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. 

In 2018–2022, there were 18,547 deaths of First Nations people in these 5 jurisdictions combined – a rate of 488 deaths per 100,000 population.

The leading cause of death for First Nations people was coronary heart disease, responsible for 1 in 10 deaths (2,159 deaths). Diabetes, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were also leading causes of death for both male and female First Nations people.

There were some differences between First Nations males and females in the leading causes:

• Suicide was the 2^nd leading cause of death for First Nations males (41.5 deaths per 100,000 population) and the 7^th for First Nations females (14.1 deaths per 100,000) (Table S6.1).
• Dementia including Alzheimer’s disease was the 5^th leading cause of death for First Nations females (68.8 deaths per 100,000 population) and the 12^th leading cause of death for First Nations males (48.0 deaths per 100,000 population) (Table S6.1).

Figure 6.1: Leading underlying causes of death in Australia, by Indigenous status and sex, 2018–2022

Note: COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

In 2018-2022, in the same 5 jurisdictions, there were 581,323 deaths of non-Indigenous people – a crude rate of 675.4 deaths per 100,000 population. The leading causes of death for non-Indigenous people are similar to the total population, with coronary heart disease, dementia including Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular disease, and lung cancer the leading 5 causes (Figure 6.1).

The age-standardised death rate for First Nations people is generally higher than for non-Indigenous Australians. In 2018-2022, the age-standardised death rate for First Nations people was:

• 1.9 times as high for all causes of death (990 and 534 deaths per 100,000 population)
• 4.8 times as high for diabetes (77 and 16 deaths per 100,000 population)
• 3.3 times as high for COPD (73 and 22 deaths per 100,000 population)
• 2.1 times as high for coronary heart disease (199 and 55 deaths per 100,000 population).

Data for the leading 20 causes of death for First Nations and non-Indigenous people can be found in Table S6.1.

For more information on life expectancy for First Nations peoples, see Health and wellbeing of First Nations people.

Remoteness areas

Rates of death and leading causes of death differ between the areas where people live (Figure 6.2). In the 2018–2022 period, the age-standardised death rate increased with increasing remoteness. While coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death across all remoteness areas, other leading causes differed by remoteness area (Figure 6.2).

Figure 6.2: Leading underlying causes of death in Australia, by remoteness area, 2018–2022

Note: COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In 2018–2022:

• The crude death rate for all causes was highest in Inner regional areas (853 per 100,000 population) and lowest in Very remote areas (571 per 100,000 population).
• Diabetes was the second leading cause of death in Very remote areas and seventh in Major cities.
• Dementia including Alzheimer’s disease had a lower ranking in Remote and Very remote areas (ranked fourth and sixth respectively) compared with Major cities and Regional areas (ranked second).
• The top 5 causes of death in Very remote areas were the same as for the total First Nations population: coronary heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer, COPD and suicide.

In Very remote areas the age standardised death rate for 2018-2022 was:

• 1.6 times the rate in Major cities for all deaths (770 and 492 deaths per 100,000 population respectively).
• 3.2 times higher for diabetes than in Major cities (54 and 15 deaths per 100,000 respectively).
• 2.3 times the rate in Major cities for suicide (25 and 11 deaths per 100,000 respectively).
• 2.0 times the rate in Major cities for coronary heart disease (97 and 49 deaths per 100,000 respectively).

See Rural and remote health.

Socioeconomic areas

Four leading causes of death were common across all 5 socioeconomic areas: coronary heart disease, dementia including Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular disease and lung cancer (Figure 6.3). The rates of death and ranking of leading causes of death differ between socioeconomic groups (Figure 6.3).

Figure 6.3: Leading underlying causes of death in Australia, by socioeconomic area, 2018–2022

Note: COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In the period 2018–2022:

• Overall death rates decreased with increasing socioeconomic position. The crude rate was highest in the lowest socioeconomic area (805 per 100,000) and lowest in the highest socioeconomic area (540 per 100,000). The age-standardised death rate for people living in the lowest socioeconomic area was 1.5 times higher than for people living in the highest socioeconomic area.
• Coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death in the three lowest socioeconomic groups. The age-standardised death rate decreased with increasing socioeconomic position (66 per 100,000 in the lowest and 40 deaths per 100,000 in the highest).
• Dementia was the leading cause of death in the two highest socioeconomic groups, however the age-standardised death rates were similar across each group.
• Colorectal cancer was the fifth leading cause of death for the highest socioeconomic area, while in the other socioeconomic areas it was COPD. For people living in the lowest socioeconomic area, age-standardised death rates were more than twice as high for diabetes, COPD and lung cancer than for those living in the highest socioeconomic area.

See Social determinants of health.