Leading causes of death
Leading causes of death is a useful measure of population health. It is of most value when making comparisons over time or between population groups. Changes in the pattern of causes of death can result from changes in behaviours, exposures to disease or injury, and social and environmental circumstances, as well as from data coding practices.
Leading underlying causes of death are determined by grouping specific causes of death and counting the number of deaths assigned to each cause group. Over 14,000 specific causes of illness, injury and death are presented in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10). These causes can be grouped in a way that is meaningful for public health purposes.
A common grouping is by ICD chapters which are broad categories arranged according to the type of disease, the body system affected by the disease or the circumstances causing death. Each chapter is further divided into blocks of related diseases. Australian cause of death data by ICD-10 chapters and selected causes of death are published in the AIHW General Record of Incidence of Mortality (GRIM) books.
For leading underlying cause of death analysis, information needs to be more specific than ICD chapters and blocks. There is no standard method for grouping causes, however, the AIHW follows the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) (Becker et al. 2006) with minor modifications to suit the Australian context. This grouping is a mix of ICD chapters, blocks and specific diseases to maximise information, separate out ill-defined causes and highlight health priority areas.
The leading underlying causes of death presented here are classified using an AIHW-modified version of Becker et al (2006).
Leading underlying causes of death by sex
Figure 3.1 shows the number of male and female deaths in 2022 for the leading 5 causes. The leading causes of death for males were:
- coronary heart disease, and
- dementia including Alzheimer’s disease.
The leading 2 causes of death for females were similar, with:
- dementia including Alzheimer’s disease, and
- coronary heart disease.
There were 9,859 deaths due to Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), representing the third and fourth leading causes of death for males and females respectively. See COVID-19 deaths for more information.
Cerebrovascular disease (which includes stroke) and lung cancer were among the 5 leading causes of death in Australia in 2022 for both males and females. Females accounted for more deaths due to cerebrovascular disease, whereas males accounted for more deaths due to lung cancer. For more leading causes of death by sex see Table S3.1.
Figure 3.1: Leading underlying causes of death in Australia, by sex, 2022
The bar graph shows that dementia, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, COVID-19 and lung cancer were leading causes of death for both sexes.
Leading underlying causes of death by age
As well as differences by sex, the leading causes of death also vary by age (Figure 3.2).
Among infants, perinatal and congenital conditions (which includes respiratory and cardiovascular disorders specific to the perinatal period, birth trauma and congenital malformations) caused the most (79%) deaths. See Mothers & babies.
In 2022:
- land transport accidents were the most common cause of death among males aged 1–14 (12%)
- 1 in 10 deaths of females aged 1–14 was due to brain cancer
- suicide was the leading cause of death for almost 1 in 3 people aged 15–44 and more than 1 in 5 people aged 25–24
- land transport accidents and accidental poisoning were either the 2nd or 3rd leading causes of death for males aged 15–44
- breast cancer was the 3rd leading cause of death for women aged 25–44.
Chronic diseases feature more prominently among people aged 45 and over, with:
- coronary heart disease being the leading cause of death for persons aged 45–84
- 3 of the 5 leading causes of death for women aged 45–64 are cancers (breast, lung, and colorectal)
- dementia including Alzheimer’s disease the leading cause of death for women aged 75 and over, followed by coronary heart disease.
Figure 3.2: Leading underlying causes of death in Australia, by age group, 2022
External causes of death, such as land transport accidents, suicide and accidental poisoning are leading causes of death for younger people (under 44). Coronary heart disease and lung cancer are the leading causes for those aged 45-84, with dementia ranking higher after the age of 75.
Notes
1. ‘Other ill-defined causes’ include the following codes: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (ICD-10 codes R00–R99, excluding R95: Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)); Respiratory failure of newborn (P28.5); Respiratory failure, unspecified (J96.9). AIHW General Record of Incidence of Mortality (GRIM) books are available for selected leading causes of death.
2. Heart failure refers to ‘Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50–I51)’.
3. There were no suicide deaths in children under 5. The number of deaths of children attributed to suicide can be influenced by coronial reporting practices, see Deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide): Coding of suicide in the Methodology of Causes of Death, Australia, ABS.
Becker R, Silvi J, Ma Fat D, L’Hours A and Laurenti R (2006) 'A method for deriving leading causes of death', Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 84:297–304.