Overview

Life expectancy is one of the most commonly used measures of overall health of a population. It is expressed as either the number of years a newborn baby is expected to live, or the expected years of life remaining for a person at a given age, and is estimated from the death rates in a population. Examining causes, patterns and trends in death can also help explain differences and changes in the health of a population, contribute to the evaluation of health strategies and interventions, and guide planning and policy-making.

Featured reports

Latest findings

In 2021, there were 171,469 deaths registered in Australia

In 2021, the leading cause of death for males was coronary heart disease (12%)

In 2021, the leading cause of death for females was dementia including Alzheimer’s disease (13%)

During 1967–2021, life expectancy increased by 13.7 years for males (to 81.3) and by 11.2 years for females (to 85.4)

The median age at death increased by 11.5 years for males (to 79.6) and 10.9 years for females (to 84.9) in 1964–2021

Centenarian deaths increased from 1 in 1,214 deaths in 1964 to 1 in 72 deaths in 2021

More reports and statistics on life expectancy & deaths can be found under Burden of disease and Injury.