Multiple causes of death by socioeconomic area

Figure 8.3: Most common causes of death by cause type and socioeconomic area, 2022–2024

The tile map shows coronary heart disease was the most common cause involved in death overall for all socioeconomic areas except for the highest two socioeconomic areas (least disadvantaged), where dementia including Alzheimer's disease was the most common.

The tile map shows coronary heart disease was the most common cause involved in death overall for all socioeconomic areas except for the highest two socioeconomic areas (least disadvantaged), where dementia including Alzheimer's disease was the most common.

Notes:

  1. Year refers to year of registration of death. Deaths registered in 2022 are based on the revised version of cause of death data; deaths registered in 2023 and 2024 are based on the preliminary version. Revised and preliminary versions are subject to further revision by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
  2. Cause groups and specific causes are based on the cause list used for reporting on multiple causes of death as described in the Technical notes.
  3. Geography is based on area of usual residence—Statistical Local Area Level 2 (SA2)—classified into population-based quintiles by using the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) 2021 Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD).

Source: AIHW National Mortality Database; Table S8.10

https://www.aihw.gov.au/

During 2022–2024, coronary heart disease and dementia were the two most common causes involved in deaths across socioeconomic areas.

  • coronary heart disease was the most common cause for all areas except the two highest (least disadvantaged) socioeconomic areas.
  • dementia was the most common cause for the two highest (least disadvantaged) socioeconomic areas (Figure 8.3).

The proportion of deaths with risk factor-related conditions contributing to death decreases with disadvantage. In 2022–2024:

  • hypertension was the leading contributing cause across all socioeconomic areas, contributing to 9% of deaths in the lowest socioeconomic areas compared with 7% in the highest.
  • the contribution of diabetes ranged from 8% in the lowest to 6% in the highest socioeconomic areas.

Analysis of psychosocial factors by socioeconomic areas shows that the leading factors were largely the same across areas for males and females.

Compared to those living in the least disadvantaged areas, males and females living in the most disadvantaged areas:

  • had higher proportion of deaths mentioning issues relating to intimate partners and circumstances surrounding policing & justice
  • had a lower proportion of deaths mentioning personal history of self-harm (Table S8.11).
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