Deaths in Australia

Looking at how many people die and what caused their death can provide important information about the health of a population. Examining patterns and trends in deaths helps to 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.

This page explores key mortality indicators for deaths registered in 2024. The report explores mortality across different ages, sex and population groups. It provides different ways of understanding health outcomes of Australians, including:

• life expectancy
• what causes death (the underlying cause of death)
• how other conditions and health events are involved in death
• which deaths may be potentially avoidable.
  
  

In 2024 there were 187,268 deaths registered in Australia (98,467 males; 88,801 females). Australia has an ageing population, and most deaths occur at older ages. In 2024:

• the median age at death was 82 years
• more than 2 in 3 deaths (68%) were of people aged over 75.

See Age at death for more information.

Leading causes of death

Leading underlying causes of death in 2024

Analysis of causes of death is useful for understanding the health of a population. The underlying cause of death identifies where there could have been intervention to stop the death from happening. In 2024, the 10 leading causes of death make up just under half of all causes of death, highlighting the importance of this type of analysis.

In 2024, dementia including Alzheimer’s disease (dementia) overtook coronary heart disease as the leading cause of death. Dementia accounted for 9.4% of total deaths and coronary heart disease 8.7%. While dementia is the leading cause overall, just over 1,200 deaths separate the two causes.

When considering the leading underlying causes by sex:

• for males coronary heart disease was the leading cause, responsible for 1 in 10 deaths
• for females dementia was the leading cause of death, responsible for 1 in 8 deaths (Figure 1).

The leading underlying causes of death also vary by age (Figure 1). Generally, younger people are more likely to die from childhood-related conditions and external causes. As people age, chronic conditions become leading underlying causes of death.

For more information, see Leading underlying causes of death in Deaths in Australia.

Figure 1: Leading underlying causes of death, by age and sex, 2024

Leading causes for priority population groups

Rates of death and leading causes of death differ between population groups (Figure 2). This may be driven by variation in population characteristics, causes of death at different ages, characteristics of the place where people live, the prevalence of illness and risk factors, and access to health services.

Figure 2: Leading underlying causes of death for different priority population groups in Australia, by sex, 2022–2024

Notes:

1. COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
2. Mortality data by Indigenous status are restricted to those 5 states and territories where information on Indigenous status is considered of sufficient quality and completeness of reporting: New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
3. Deaths are counted according to year of registration of death, and state or territory of usual residence.
4. Causes of death for 2022 are based on the revised version; and deaths registered in 2023 and 2024 are based on the preliminary version and are subject to revision. Interpret deaths due to suicide with caution. For more information, see Methodology in ABS Causes of death publication.
5. Geography is based on area of usual residence – Statistical Local Area Level 2 (SA2).
6. Statistical Local Area Level 2 (SA2) – classified according to Remoteness Area 2021. Correspondence files are sourced from Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3: Remoteness Structure.
7. 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 S7.1, S7.2, S7.4, S7.6.

First Nations people

For First Nations people who died in 2022–2024, coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death, responsible for 1 in 10 deaths (1,522 deaths). When considering the leading causes by sex:

• coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death for First Nations males. The age-standardised death rate for coronary heart disease was more than twice as high than for non-Indigenous males 
• diabetes was the leading cause of death for First Nations females. The age-standardised death rate for diabetes was more than six times as high than for non-Indigenous females (Figure 2, Table S7.1, Table S7.2).

See Variations in deaths between population groups: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people for further analysis.

Remoteness area

Leading causes of death differ between the areas where people live (Figure 2). People living in rural and remote areas continue to face challenges due to their geographic location (AIHW 2025). In 2022–2024:

• people living in Very remote areas had a death rate 1.6 times as high as people living in Major cities (774 and 497 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively)
• people living in rural and remote areas had largely preventable leading causes of death
• for males, the death rate for COPD and diabetes is more than twice as high for those living in Very remote areas than for those living in Major cities
• dementia was responsible for more deaths of females in Major cities than for those in Very remote areas 
  (1 in 8 deaths in Major cities and 1 in 20 deaths in Very remote areas).

See Variations in deaths between population groups: Remoteness area for further analysis.

Socioeconomic area

Socioeconomic indexes have been developed to help understand differences between relative socioeconomic disadvantage or advantage. The death rates for the leading causes are highest in lowest socioeconomic areas, and lowest for those in higher socioeconomic areas. In 2022–2024:

• people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas had a death rate 1.5 times as high as people living in the highest socioeconomic areas (631 and 418 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively)
• for males who died from coronary heart disease, the death rate was 1.7 times as high for those living in the lowest socioeconomic areas than for those living in the highest (85 and 49 deaths per 100,000, respectively)
• for females who died from coronary heart disease, the death rate was also 1.7 times as high for those living in the lowest socioeconomic areas than for those living in the highest (40 and 24 deaths per 100,000, respectively).

See Variations in deaths between population groups: Socioeconomic area for further analysis.

Potentially avoidable deaths

Almost half (49%) of all deaths in 2024 for people aged less than 75 were potentially avoidable. The causes contributing the most to potentially avoidable deaths were different by sex. In 2024:

• 1 in 9 potentially avoidable deaths of males were due to coronary heart disease
• 1 in 14 potentially avoidable deaths of females were due to breast cancer. 

While many causes of potentially avoidable death have remained relatively stable over the last decade, there were reductions in:

• bowel cancer, for both males and females
• coronary heart disease, although a more pronounced reduction for males.

See Potentially avoidable deaths, in Deaths in Australia.

Excess mortality was observed in 2022, influencing short-term changes to some causes. An example of this includes an increase in the death rate for coronary heart disease in 2021 and 2022. The death rate for coronary heart disease has since decreased, with 2024 the lowest rate since the early 1900s. Further analysis of the impact of the pandemic is available in Mortality in the context of a pandemic.

Analysis of potentially avoidable deaths are available for different populations including:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people

Remoteness areas

Socioeconomic areas.

Multiple causes of death

The underlying cause of death identifies where an intervention could occur to stop the death from happening. This is important from a public health perspective to develop programs, allocate funding and resources, and advocate for reform. It is also helpful in monitoring if those interventions are working.

Many Australians die with more than one condition involved in their death. In 2024:

• almost 4 in 5 deaths had more than one condition recorded on their medical death certificate
• almost one quarter of people who died had 5 or more conditions recorded.

Looking at this additional information can provide greater insights into the health of Australians, and why they die. This is particularly important in considering conditions which exacerbate or worsen health but do not commonly cause death on their own, such as hypertension. This allows us to better understand the broader impact of these conditions.

Considering all the conditions on a death certificate can identify:

• which conditions or injuries lead directly to death (direct causes)
• what other diseases or circumstances contribute to death (contributory causes)
• indicate the overall impact a disease has on death in Australia (multiple causes).

Using the multiple cause of death approach shows that considering the underlying cause only may underestimate the impact of certain conditions in causing death. For example, in 2024:

Analysis of multiple causes of death by age, sex and socioeconomic area is available in Deaths in Australia, Multiple causes of death.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy measures how long, on average, a person is expected to live based on current age- and sex-specific death rates. Life expectancy at birth is expressed as the average number of years a newborn is expected to live.

Average life expectancy did not change between 2021–2023 and 2022–2024. Males and females born in Australia between 2022–2024 can expect to live on average to:

As with death rates and leading causes of death, based on the latest available estimates life expectancy varies between population groups within Australia.

For First Nations people born in 2020–2022, life expectancy was:

• 71.9 years for males
• 75.6 for females.

Life expectancy also differs by socioeconomic area. For people born in 2024, life expectancy was:

• 78.4 years for males and 83.0 for females for those living in the lowest socioeconomic areas
• 83.8 years for males and 87.0 for females for those living in the highest socioeconomic areas life expectancy was.

For more information, see Life expectancy.

Key data gaps and improvement activities

Australia has a well-developed vital statistics system, providing good population coverage of the number of deaths and related demographic information. Data sources outlines the requirements and processing of the cause of death data in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) undertakes regular activities related to the quality and completeness of cause of death data, which are outlined in Causes of Death, Australia methodology.

Since 2024 the AIHW has published insights relating to all the conditions involved in death, known as multiple cause analysis, and the role they play in a death (underlying, direct or contributory). Currently multiple cause analysis does not consider the interplay between conditions, which can be useful for understanding:

• complex multiple acute conditions at end of life
• common co-occurring chronic conditions
• alternative morbid train of events (for example where there are two potential conditions which could have initiated the death)
• outcomes of conditions (such as complications).

In order to address this gap, the AIHW will investigate if this level of analysis can be undertaken through the data held in the National Mortality Database.

Where do I go for more information?

For more information on deaths, causes of death, and life expectancy, see:

• Deaths in Australia
• General Record of Incidence of Mortality Books
• Mortality over Regions and Time Books.

For more on this topic, see Life expectancy & deaths.