Leading causes of death
Identifying leading underlying 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.
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Leading underlying causes of death by sex Leading underlying causes of death by ageLeading 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
Coronary heart disease and dementia including Alzheimer’s disease were the two leading causes of death overall in 2023, with just over 200 deaths separating the first and second leading causes.
The leading causes of death vary by sex:
- For males, coronary heart disease was the leading cause.
- For females, dementia including Alzheimer’s disease was the leading cause.
Figure 3.1 shows the number of male and female deaths in 2023 for the leading 5 causes. Cerebrovascular disease (which includes stroke) and lung cancer were among the 5 leading causes of death in Australia in 2023 for both males and females. Females accounted for more deaths due to cerebrovascular disease, whereas males accounted for more deaths due to lung cancer. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the fifth leading causes of death for both males and females. For more leading causes of death by sex see Table S3.1.
Figure 3.1: Leading underlying causes of death in Australia, by sex, 2023
The leading causes of death in 2023 were coronary heart disease for men and dementia including Alzheimer’s disease for women. Other leading causes include lung cancer, cerebrovascular disease and COPD.
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 caused almost 8 in 10 deaths. These conditions include respiratory and cardiovascular disorders specific to the perinatal period, birth trauma and congenital malformations. See Mothers & babies.
In 2023:
- land transport accidents were the most common cause of death among males and females aged 1–14
- suicide was the leading cause of death for 1 in 3 people aged 15–24 and more than 1 in 5 people aged 25–44
- land transport accidents and accidental poisoning were in the top 3 leading causes of death for males aged 15–44
- breast cancer was the second leading cause of death in females aged 25–44 and the leading cause for females aged 45–64
- coronary heart disease was a leading cause of death for males aged 25–44.
Chronic diseases feature more prominently among people aged 45 and over:
- Coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death for males aged 45–84 and those aged 95 and over
- Breast and lung cancers were leading causes of death for women aged 45–74
- Dementia including Alzheimer’s disease, coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease were the leading 3 causes of death for women aged over 75
- Coronary heart disease and dementia including Alzheimer’s disease were the two leading causes of death for males aged 75 and over.
COVID-19 was in the leading 5 causes of death for people aged 85 years and over. For more information about COVID-19 deaths in 2023, see the COVID-19 deaths page in this report.
Figure 3.2: Leading underlying causes of death in Australia, by age group, 2023
Tile chart shows the leading underlying causes of death for people aged 1-44 years are external causes. Middle to older ages have more chronic disease as leading underlying causes of death.
Notes
COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- ‘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.
- Heart failure refers to ‘Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50–I51)’.
- The number of deaths due to suicide should be considered preliminary and typically increase across revisions cycles, as more information becomes available in the coronial process. For information on coding practices, interpretation of suicide data, and revisions process refer to Deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide) and Data quality: Revisions process 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.