Country of birth

Figure 1: Long-term health conditions by country of birth, by sex, 2021

This graph shows the crude and age-standardised percentages of people reporting long-term health conditions in the 2021 Census, by country of birth and sex. Among the 20 most common overseas countries of birth, people born in Asian countries generally had a higher prevalence of diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease than for other conditions, while those born in Australia, English-speaking countries and European countries generally had a higher prevalence of arthritis, asthma, cancer, lung conditions and mental health conditions. Among all countries of birth reported in the Census, the prevalence of many conditions was high for people born in Polynesian countries Overall, there were variations between each condition and at the region level of country of birth.

People born in Australia had the highest prevalence of at least one long-term health condition (36%).

When comparing the prevalence of one or more long-term health condition(s) between the 20 most common overseas countries of birth:

  • People born in Iraq had the highest prevalence (29%) among the non-main English-speaking countries, followed by those born in Lebanon (26%) and Sri Lanka (25%)
  • People born in China (15%), Nepal (15%) and South Korea (16%) had the lowest prevalence.

Coronary heart disease and dementia are 2 of the leading causes of disease burden in Australia  (AIHW 2022). For these diseases, many of the 20 most common countries of birth populations had a higher prevalence than Australia. For example:

  • People born in Pakistan had the highest prevalence of heart disease (4.6%), followed by those born in Iraq (4.0%) and Sri Lanka (3.9%). In comparison, people born in Australia had a prevalence of 3.6%.
  • Those born in Italy had the highest prevalence of dementia (0.9%), followed by those born in Iraq (0.8%) and Vietnam (0.8%). In comparison, people born in Australia had a prevalence of (0.6%)

People born in Asian countries generally had a higher prevalence of diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease than for other conditions, while those born in Australia, English-speaking and European countries generally had a higher prevalence of arthritis, asthma, cancer, lung conditions and mental health conditions.

People born in some countries such as Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon and Sri Lanka had some of the highest prevalence of many individual conditions, compared with the 20 most common overseas countries of birth and Australia. For example, people born in Iraq had the:

  • highest percentage of reporting stroke (1.2%) and kidney disease (1.3%)
  • third highest percentage of reporting arthritis (7.2%).

When the results were compared between all countries of birth as reported in the 2021 Census:

  • the prevalence of many individual conditions including dementia, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and kidney disease were high for people born in Polynesian countries. This includes people born in Cook Islands and Tonga, who had the highest prevalence of stroke and kidney disease, respectively
  • Bangladesh-born Australians had the highest prevalence of both diabetes and heart disease (12% and 4.6%, respectively).

Reference 

AIHW (2022) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2022, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 27 January 2023. doi: 5816/e2v0-gp02.