Neurological conditions in Australia:
Migraine and headaches in Australia
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Last updated:
Topic: Neurological conditions
Citation
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2025) Migraine and headaches in Australia, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 15 June 2026.
This article is part of Neurological conditions in Australia
- Cerebral palsy in Australia
- Epilepsy in Australia
- Functional neurological disorder in Australia
- Guillain-Barré syndrome in Australia
- Huntington's disease in Australia
- Migraine and headaches in Australia This page
- Motor neurone disease in Australia
- Multiple sclerosis in Australia
- Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome in Australia
- Myasthenia gravis in Australia
- Parkinson's disease in Australia
Headache disorders are neurological conditions that consist of repeatedly occurring headaches. There are more than 200 different types of headaches (Healthdirect 2023a). The primary headache disorders are (WHO 2024):
- migraine
- tension-type headache
- cluster headache (one type of trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, the third group of primary headache disorders).
Primary headache disorders are thought to occur due to a combination of genetics and environmental exposures, although specific factors are not always able to be identified for people living with the conditions. Triggers for headache attacks differ between people and can include emotional, sleep, dietary and environmental factors (Migraine & Headache Australia 2021). Many people living with headache disorders do not receive a timely diagnosis or effective care (WHO 2024).
For migraine, the main symptom is recurrent, throbbing headaches that often are worse on one side of the head. It may be preceded by an aura, which is a disturbance in vision, speech or other sensations (Healthdirect 2023b). When a person is experiencing a migraine attack, activity, bright lights, loud noises and strong smells may be extremely uncomfortable. There may also be nausea and vomiting. The pain from migraine can so debilitating as to make everyday activities impossible.
For information on tension headaches and cluster headaches see the (hyperlinked) articles by Healthdirect (2023c and 2023d respectively).
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Almost 1 in 15 (6.6%), or 1.7 million, Australians were living with long-term migraine in 2022.
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Nine in 10 hospitalisations due to migraine and headache disorders in 2023–24 were for migraine and females accounted for more than three quarters of migraine hospitalisations.
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Migraine was the 2nd (single) leading cause of total burden out of all neurological conditions in 2024.
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More than 1 in 3 emergency department presentations due to migraine were admitted to hospital.
This report presents both crude and age-standardised rates, where available.
Crude rates are based on unadjusted data and indicate whether there is a difference between populations without accounting for differences in the age structures of the populations.
Age-standardised rates are based on data that are adjusted to account for differences in the age structures of the populations.
Therefore, a difference between 2 populations in crude rates indicates that the rate differs between them. The differences may be due to any number of factors, including different age structures of the populations. In contrast, a difference between 2 populations in age-standardised rates indicates that the rate differs between them but that this difference is not due to different age-structures.
For example, a difference in the prevalence rate between males and females indicates that prevalence differs between them, and this difference in prevalence could be due to any number of risk factors, including age. A difference in the age-standardised prevalence rate between males and females indicates that prevalence differs between them and, furthermore, that this difference in prevalence is not due to age.
For more details about rate calculations see the Technical notes in the Neurological conditions in Australia report.
For interactive visualisations on hospitalisations, emergency department presentations, health-system costs and burden of disease for migraine and other headache disorders, see Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5, respectively, in the Neurological conditions in Australia report. Change the toggles in the visualisations from “all neurological conditions” to one of “migraine and other headaches”, “migraine”, “tension-type headache” or “cluster headaches” (Figures 4 and 5 for health-system costs and burden of disease include only migraine).
For downloadable data tables, see Data section of this article.
How common is migraine in Australia?
Based on self-reported data from the National Health Survey (NHS) 2022 (ABS 2023c), in 2022:
- almost 1 in 15 (6.6%), or 1.7 million, Australians were living with long-term migraine, making it the most common neurological condition in Australia (note that this may be an underestimate – see limitations dropdown box further below for an explanation and the prevalence estimates from GBD 2021 dropdown box for alternative estimates)
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A higher percentage of Australians were estimated to be living with migraine than diabetes or heart, stroke and vascular disease (HSV) (ABS 2023b).
- females were 2.2 times as likely as males to be living with migraine (9.2% and 4.1% respectively) – a higher percentage of females were living with migraine than males for every age-group from 15 years and up (Figure 1)
- migraine was more common in people aged between 25 and 55 years
- in the 45–54 years age-group, women were 3.4 times as likely as men to be living with migraine (16.4% and 4.8% respectively) – about 1 in 6 women in this age-group were living with long-term migraine.
The National Health Survey does not collect data on headache disorders other than migraine and so could not be used to estimate the prevalence of headache disorders more generally.
Figure 1: Percentage of Australians living with (long-term) migraine in 2022
This visualisation shows that, in every age-group, a higher percentage of females than males were living with long-term migraine and that long-term migraine was more common among age-groups between 25 and 54 years.
This visualisation shows that, in every age-group, a higher percentage of females than males were living with long-term migraine and that long-term migraine was more common among age-groups between 25 and 54 years.
For more details see Data sources of the Neurological conditions in Australia report and the Data tables in this article.
Source:
National Health Survey 2022
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Data source overview
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Females and people of working age (25–55 years) are disproportionately affected by migraine.
This is evident from (1) self-report data as shown in Figure 1 and (2) administrative (hospitalisations) data as shown in Figure 2.
The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021 (IHME 2025) estimated that 40% of Australians were living with a headache disorder in 2021 (43% females and 36% males), and almost 15% were living with migraine (18% females and 11% males).
However, GBD 2021 did not use data inputs from Australia for migraine and headaches. Instead, GBD 2021 relied completely on data from other countries and mathematical modelling strategies.
Moreover, part of the large differences between the Australian estimates from GBD 2021 (almost 15% for migraine) and the estimates in this report from the NHS (6.6% for migraine) are likely due to the estimates in this report being based on surveys focused on long-term conditions that have lasted or are likely to last at least 6 months. In contrast, GBD 2021 estimates are for episodic migraine prevalence over the past year – people who have had any single migraine in the past year are counted in the prevalence estimates.
The recent Migraine in Australian Women report based on the National Women’s Health Survey (NWHS) of 3,629 women aged 18 years and over (Jean Hailes for Women’s Health 2025a) estimated the prevalence of migraine in Australian women using a validated 3-item diagnostic questionnaire.
Almost 1 in 3 women (30%) likely experienced migraine in the past 3 months. Prevalence was highest among women aged 18 to 44 years.
The NWHS included complete responses from 1,505 women from the probability-based Life in AustraliaTM panel and 2,124 women from a non-probability panel (Jean Hailes for Women’s Health 2025b). These results are evidence that the NHS and NATSIHS may underestimate the prevalence of migraine in Australia.
The results of the Migraine in Australian Women report may suggest that the estimate from GBD 2021 for migraine (almost 15%) is closer to the true prevalence of migraine in Australia. However, the Migraine in Australian Women report may also be overestimating prevalence, at least to some extent. This is because more than half (59%) of the sample was from a non-probability panel with only 6.1% of the invited respondents from this panel completing the survey. Such a low completion rate may result in sampling bias. For example, women living with health conditions may have been more likely to complete the survey after having started it, compared with women not living with health conditions. This would result in an oversampling of women with health conditions such as migraine, leading to the potential for overestimating prevalence.
Moreover, the 3-item diagnostic questionnaire used in the survey may overestimate prevalence because it tends to have specificity that is a little low, meaning that it sometimes classifies people without migraine as having migraine.
Further empirical investigation, such as a survey of respondents who are all from a probability panel, would help to address these concerns.
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of around 15,000 to 17,000 Australians conducted each year since July 2000.
One question from HILDA asks respondents, “Looking at SHOWCARD K1, do you have any long-term health condition, impairment or disability (such as these) that restricts you in your everyday activities, and has lasted or is likely to last, for 6 months or more?” People who answered yes to this question were then asked which one of the conditions they had.
Showcard K1 contained a list of “Disabilities / health conditions which:
- Have lasted, or are likely to last, 6 months or more,
- Restrict everyday activity, and
- Cannot be corrected by medication or medical aids.”
The list included “Frequent headaches or migraine”.
Based on wave 23 of HILDA with 15,987 respondents, 3.2% of Australians were living with long-term frequent headaches or migraine in 2023. The 95% confidence interval around this estimate is 2.8% for the lower bound and 3.6% for the upper bound ([2.8%, 3.6%]).
Females were about 3 times as likely as males to be living with long-term frequent headaches or migraine – 4.8% [4.0%, 5.6%] of females and 1.6% [1.2%, 1.9%] of males.
These estimates reflect the prevalence of headaches or migraine which:
- are frequent,
- are long-term (having lasted at least 6 months),
- restrict people in their everyday activities and
- cannot be corrected by medication.
The HILDA estimates therefore do not account for people who are managing their frequent headaches or migraine with medications. Moreover, there are likely to be many Australians living with headaches or migraine but who may not consider their everyday activities to be restricted on a daily, or even weekly basis. They may therefore respond “no” to the question even though they are living with headaches or migraine. HILDA would therefore underestimate the true prevalence of headaches and migraine in Australia.
Nonetheless, the estimates from HILDA are informative in so far as they show that a significant percent of Australians live with headaches or migraine, unmanageable by medications, so severe and frequent that it restricts their everyday activities. And, moreover, that females are disproportionately affected by such severe headaches or migraine.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
Based on self-reported data from the NHS 2022 (ABS 2023a):
- the highest socioeconomic areas had the lowest percentage (5.6%) of people living with migraine (the lowest socioeconomic areas had a higher percentage, with 7.3%) – age-standardisation did not change the relative positions of the different socioeconomic areas
- the percentage of people living with migraine was similar across different remoteness areas, Outer regional and remote areas (7.4%), Inner regional areas (6%) and Major cities (6.7%) (comparisons between different socioeconomic areas should be made with caution due to high margin of errors around the estimates) – the results were similar after age-standardisation.
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The highest socioeconomic areas had the lowest percentage (age-standardised) of people living with migraine.
Data tables on socioeconomic and remoteness figures are available for download under the Data section of this article.
Trends over time
The current prevalence estimates from NHS 2022 and NATSIHS 2022–23 (see below in the section for First Nations people) are slightly higher than many but not all previous estimates for all Australians as well as for First Nations people.
The sex differences for all Australians as well as for First Nations people have been present for over 20 years, in all previous comparable surveys, with females typically more than twice as likely as males to be living with migraine.
Estimates of the prevalence of migraine from previous NHSs that are considered comparable to the NHS 2022 range from 5.7% to 6.6% for all Australians, from 8% to 9.3% for females and from 3.3% to 3.8% for males (ABS 2002a, 2006a, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018).
Estimates from previous NHSs and NATSIHSs of the prevalence of migraine among First Nations people range from 6% to 7.1%, from 9.1% to 10% for females and from 4% to 4.8% for males (ABS 2002b, 2006b, 2013, 2019).
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The sex difference has remained for more than 20 years, with females more than twice as likely as males to be living with migraine.
The NHS relies on respondents self-reporting whether they have migraine (NHS) as a long-term health condition that has lasted, or is likely to last, 6 months or more. The estimates from the NHS are likely to underestimate the true prevalence of migraine for several reasons:
- There may be Australians living with migraine but for whom the symptoms have manifested over shorter periods some time ago (for example, the condition may have lasted 1 or 2 months about 3 months ago), who would therefore not be aware that they are living with migraine as a current long-term condition.
- NHS estimates include respondents who said that they have been told by a doctor that they are living with migraine, but research (with respondents from several European countries) has found that many people living with migraine may not have consulted a health professional (Katsarava et al. 2018); there may therefore be many Australians living with migraine but who have not been told so by a doctor.
- NHS estimates also include respondents who said that they are living with migraine even though they had not been told so by a doctor, but research shows that people living with migraine may mistake their condition for some other type of headache (Lipton et al. 2002, Radtke and Neuhauser 2012); there may therefore be many Australians living with migraine but who would not report so.
These data gap issues need to be addressed for more accurate prevalence estimates. A nationally representative survey may address the data gaps by including diagnostic questions for migraine, which would avoid some issues around misreporting conditions.
More minor limitations are that the NHS does not include information from people living in non-private dwellings, such as residential aged care facilities, hospitals or prisons. This may exclude people likely to experience certain long-term health conditions, such as migraine and other headache disorders.
Notwithstanding the limitations, the NHS provides recent data from Australian households considered to be representative of Australians. This source therefore provides the best current estimates for how common migraine (as a long-term condition) is in Australia.
Moreover, using data from the NHS has further advantages. It allows for comparisons of prevalence over time and across different conditions given that data are collected for multiple conditions using similar methods. This further allows for an examination of comorbidity.
Hospitalisations
Based on the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), in 2023–2024:
- there were 25,700 hospitalisations with migraine and headache disorders recorded as the principal diagnosis (95 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, crude and age-standardised rates were the same), representing 7% of hospitalisations which had neurological condition as the principal diagnosis
- there were 12,600 hospitalisations with migraine and headache disorders recorded as an additional diagnosis
- migraine accounted for 9 in 10 of hospitalisations that were due to headache disorders (principal diagnosis)
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90%
of hospitalisations for migraine and headache disorders were for migraine.
- females accounted for more than three quarters (77%) of hospitalisations due to migraine and headache disorders, with 145 hospitalisations per 100,000 females, compared with 44 hospitalisations per 100,000 males (both crude and age-standardised rates were the same)
- for migraine, females accounted for 78% of hospitalisations and had a rate of 135 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, which was 3.6 times as high as males who had 37 hospitalisations per 100,000 population – the rates remained the same after age-standardisation
- for tension-type headache, females accounted for 71% of hospitalisations and had a rate of 5.2 hospitalisations per 100,000 population (4.8 per 100,000, age-standardised), which was more than 2 times as high as for males who had 2.2 hospitalisations per 100,000 population (2.1 per 100,000 population, age-standardised)
- for cluster headaches, females accounted for 42% of hospitalisations, with 1.2 hospitalisations per 100,000 females (crude and age-standardised rates were the same), compared with 1.7 hospitalisations per 100,000 males (1.6 hospitalisations per 100,000 males, age-standardised).
Figure 2: Rate (per 100,000 population) of migraine hospitalisations in 2023–24
This visualisation shows that, in every age-group, the rate of migraine hospitalisations was higher for females than for males and higher for age-groups between 25 and 54 years.
| Age-group | males | females | persons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 | 7.5per 100,000 | 10per 100,000 | 8.7per 100,000 |
| 10–14 | 19per 100,000 | 34.8per 100,000 | 26.7per 100,000 |
| 15–19 | 24per 100,000 | 83.1per 100,000 | 52.6per 100,000 |
| 20–24 | 32.9per 100,000 | 164.1per 100,000 | 96.1per 100,000 |
| 25–29 | 43.1per 100,000 | 190.3per 100,000 | 115.9per 100,000 |
| 30–34 | 47.9per 100,000 | 195.2per 100,000 | 122.1per 100,000 |
| 35–39 | 57.3per 100,000 | 197.7per 100,000 | 128.1per 100,000 |
| 40–44 | 48.5per 100,000 | 208.9per 100,000 | 129.5per 100,000 |
| 45–49 | 52.9per 100,000 | 230.6per 100,000 | 142.9per 100,000 |
| 50–54 | 58per 100,000 | 203.4per 100,000 | 131.8per 100,000 |
| 55–59 | 48.9per 100,000 | 156per 100,000 | 103.4per 100,000 |
| 60–64 | 44.6per 100,000 | 132.2per 100,000 | 89.6per 100,000 |
| 65–69 | 41.1per 100,000 | 112.9per 100,000 | 78.4per 100,000 |
| 70–74 | 30.7per 100,000 | 88.9per 100,000 | 61.1per 100,000 |
| 75–79 | 36.7per 100,000 | 86.8per 100,000 | 62.9per 100,000 |
| 80–84 | 27.9per 100,000 | 81.6per 100,000 | 56.8per 100,000 |
| 85+ | 29.3per 100,000 | 49.8per 100,000 | 41.6per 100,000 |
| All ages | 37.4per 100,000 | 134.1per 100,000 | 86.1per 100,000 |
This visualisation shows that, in every age-group, the rate of migraine hospitalisations was higher for females than for males and higher for age-groups between 25 and 54 years.
For more details see Data sources of the Neurological conditions in Australia report and the Data tables in this article.
Source:
National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD)
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Data source overview
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
In 2023–24:
- people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas had the highest rate of hospitalisations due to migraine and headache disorders (100 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, or 105 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, age-standardised), and people living in the highest socioeconomic areas had the lowest rate (85 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, or 83 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, age-standardised)
- people from Inner regional areas had the highest rate of hospitalisations (105 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, or 110 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, age-standardised), followed by people from Major cities, Outer regional areas and then Remote and very remote areas (93, 92 and 81 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, respectively, or 92, 96 and 81 hospitalisations per 100,000, age-standardised, respectively).
Data tables on socioeconomic and remoteness figures are available for download under the Data section of this article.
Trends over time
Between 2013–14 and 2023–24:
- the crude and age-standardised rates of hospitalisations due to migraine and headache disorders increased from 73 to 95 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, reaching a peak of almost 105 hospitalisations per 100,000 in 2020–21
- the sex differences for hospitalisations due to migraine and headache disorders increased, the age-standardised rate for females increasing by 32% (from 110 to 145 per 100,000 population, crude and age-standardised) compared with an increase of 19% for males (from 37 to 44 per 100,000 population, crude and age-standardised).
Information on procedures in the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD) is reported using the Australian Classification of Health Interventions (ACHI) which classifies surgical operations, procedures and other types of interventions performed for the purpose of investigating and/or remedying health state.
In 2023–24, there were 18,300 procedures for hospitalisations with a principal diagnosis of migraine or headache, equating to around 0.7 procedures per hospitalisation. More than half of the procedures were generalised allied health interventions, almost 1 in 10 (9.9%) were administration of pharmacotherapy and 7.3% were percutaneous neurotomy of other peripheral nerve.
For more information on surgeries and intervention types, see Surgery and other interventions.
Emergency department presentations
Based on the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database (NAPEDC), in 2023–24:
- there were almost 39,800 emergency department (ED) presentations with migraine and headache disorders recorded as the principal diagnosis (150 presentations per 100,000 population, crude and age-standardised rates were the same), representing about 30% of ED presentations with a neurological condition as the principal diagnosis
- migraine accounted for 4 in 5 (81%) ED presentations due to migraine and headache disorders, equivalent to 120 presentations per 100,000 population (125 presentations per 100,000 population, age-standardised); tension-type headaches accounted for 8.8% and cluster headaches accounted for 2.5%
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81%
of ED presentations due to migraine and headache disorders were for migraine.
- more than 1 in 3 (35%) ED presentations due to migraine and headache disorders were admitted to hospital – for females it was 36% and males 30% (analysis of data from emergency department presentations linked with data from hospitalisations could provide insights into the diagnoses following ED presentations for headaches, which may be acute symptoms for other conditions)
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The percentage of ED presentations that were admitted to hospital was higher for migraine than for tension-type or cluster headaches.
- females accounted for almost three quarters (74%) of ED presentations due to migraine and headache disorders, equivalent to 215 presentations per 100,000 females, compared with 78 per 100,000 males – the sex difference increased slightly after age-standardisation (220 and 78 per 100,000 for females and males respectively)
- for migraine, females accounted for 77% of ED presentations, equivalent to 185 presentations per 100,000 females (190 per 100,000 females, age-standardised) compared with 56 presentations per 100,000 males (57 per 100,000 males, age-standardised)
- for tension-type headaches, females accounted for 65% of ED presentations, equivalent to 17 presentations per 100,000 females, compared with 9.2 presentations per 100,000 males (crude rates were the same as age-standardised rates for both sexes)
- for cluster headaches, females accounted for 39% of ED presentations, equivalent to 2.8 presentations per 100,000 females, compared with 4.6 presentations per 100,000 males (crude rates were the same as age-standardised rates for both sexes).
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Females had an age-standardised rate of ED presentations (per 100,000 population) for migraine that was 3.3 times as high as males.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
In 2023–24 the age-standardised rate of ED presentations (per 100,000 population) due to migraine and headaches disorders:
- was higher for people living in lower socioeconomic areas
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The age-standardised rate of ED presentations due to migraine and headache disorders was almost 1.9 times as high for the lowest socioeconomic areas as for the highest socioeconomic areas.
- was highest for people living in Remote and very remote areas (270 presentations per 100,000 population), compared with people living in Outer regional areas (240 presentations per 100,000 population), Inner regional areas (240 presentations per 100,000 population) and Major cities (120 presentations per 100,000 population).
Data tables on socioeconomic and remoteness figures are available for download under the Data section of this article.
Trends over time
From 2018–19 to 2023–24, the age-standardised rate of ED presentations due to migraine and headache disorders decreased from 190 to 150 presentations per 100,000 population (crude and age-standardised) – from 275 to 215 per 100,000 females (280 to 220 per 100,000 females, age-standardised), and from 100 to 78 per 100,000 males (105 to 78 per 100,000 males, age-standardised).
Health-system costs
Note on comparing previous health expenditure reports
The scope of expenditure and methods used in the most recent 2023–24 disease expenditure study (AIHW 2025) is similar to those used in the 2022–23 report however there are changes that have been made that make comparison of data between the 2023–24 report and the 2022–23 report to be done with caution. For more information see the methodology of the Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24 report (AIHW 2025).
In 2023–24:
- there were $592.6 million health-system costs attributed to migraine, representing 9% of health-system costs attributed to neurological conditions
- females accounted for more than three quarters (78%) of health-system costs attributed to migraine
- the leading areas of expenditure were prescribed medications from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) ($168.4 million, 28%), public hospital emergency department services ($101.7 million, 17%), general practitioner services ($79.9 million, 13%), public hospital admitted patient services ($72.7 million, 12.3%) and medical imaging ($68.9 million, 11.6%).
Data on health-system costs were available only for migraine and not for other headache disorders. For more information, see Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24 (AIHW 2025).
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28%
of the health-system costs due to migraine were for prescribed medications from the PBS.
-
17%
of the health-system costs due to migraine were for public hospital emergency department services.
-
13%
of the health-system costs due to migraine were for general practitioner services.
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12%
of the health system costs due to migraine were for public hospital admitted patient services.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
The Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24 report (AIHW 2025) did not include statistics disaggregated by socioeconomic areas.
The rate of health-system costs for migraine was lowest for people living in Major cities and Very remote areas (both with around $2.0 million per 100,000 population). The rate was highest for people living in Inner regional areas ($2.4 million per 100,000 population), followed by Remote areas and Outer regional areas (both with around $2.2 million per 100,000 population).
Trends over time
After adjusting for inflation (reported in constant prices), the health-system costs attributed to migraine were 1.7 times as high in 2023–24 as in 2013–14 ($592.6 million and $344.7 million, respectively). Females have consistently accounted for more than three quarters of the health-system costs attributed to migraine.
Burden of disease
Burden of disease is measured using the metric of disability-adjusted life years (DALY, also referred to as total burden). One DALY is one year of healthy life lost due to disease or injury.
DALY caused by living with disease or injury are referred to as non-fatal burden and measured in years lived with disability (YLD). DALY caused by premature death are referred to as fatal burden and measured in years of life lost (YLL).
In 2024:
- migraine was estimated to be responsible for over 49,100 years of healthy life lost or DALY, equivalent to 1.8 DALY per 1,000 population (1.9 DALY per 1,000 population, age-standardised) and 0.8% of the total disease burden in Australia
- migraine was the 2nd (single) leading cause of total burden out of the neurological conditions reported in the Australian Burden of Disease Study (ABDS) (AIHW 2024)
- females accounted for almost three quarters (72%) of the total burden attributed to migraine
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Females had an age-standardised DALY rate 2.4 times that of males (DALY per 1,000 population).
- virtually all of the DALY for migraine were due to years lived with disability (non-fatal burden).
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Migraine accounted for 1.6% of the non-fatal burden in all of Australia.
Data on burden of disease were available only for migraine and not for other headache disorders. For more information see Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 (AIHW 2024).
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
The most recent burden of disease statistics disaggregated by socioeconomic and remoteness areas, at the time of writing this report, are from the ABDS 2018 (AIHW 2021).
In 2018 the age-standardised rate of total disease burden attributed to migraine:
- ranged between 1.5 and 2.1 DALY per 1,000 population across socioeconomic areas, with a rate of 1.8 DALY per 1,000 population for people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas and 1.5 DALY per 1,000 population for people living in the highest socioeconomic areas
- ranged between 1.7 and 2.2 DALY per 1,000 population for people living in different remoteness areas, with people living in Inner regional and Outer regional areas having the highest rate (2.2 DALY per 1,000 population each) and people living in Remote and very remote areas having the lowest rate (1.7 DALY per 1,000 population).
Trends over time
From 2003 to 2024:
- migraine moved from being the 3rd leading cause of total burden out of all neurological conditions in 2003, responsible for 39,300 DALY, to the being the 2nd leading cause in 2024, responsible for 49,100 DALY
- females had an increase of 27% in total DALY due to migraine (from almost 27,800 in 2003 to almost 35,300 in 2024), whereas males had an increase of 20% (from almost 11,500 to over 13,800)
- there was a slight decrease in the crude DALY rate from 2.0 to 1.8 per 1,000 population (1.2 to 1.0 per 1,000 males and 2.8 to 2.6 per 1,000 females) – after age-standardisation the change was even slighter, from 2.0 to 1.9 DALY per 1,000 population (1.2 to 1.1 per 1,000 males and 2.8 to 2.6 per 1,000 females).
NDIS and aged care
There were no National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) data for migraine or headache disorders.
Aged care data on migraine or headache disorders are not reported as these conditions are not captured in the available condition codes from the National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse (NACDC). For more information, see the National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse tab in the Data sources section of the Neurological conditions in Australia report.
Mortality
Based on the National Mortality Database (NMD), in 2023, there were 0 deaths with headache disorders recorded as the underlying cause.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
The number of deaths with headache disorders as the underlying cause was too low (0) for reporting and meaningful comparisons between different socioeconomic and remoteness areas.
Trends over time
The number of deaths with headache disorders as the underlying cause was too low for meaningful comparisons over time.
First Nations people
How common is migraine among First Nations people?
Based on the most recently available (self-reported) data from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS) 2022–23 (ABS 2024):
- more than 1 in 14 (7.4%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people were living with long-term migraine (note that this may be an underestimate – see limitations dropdown box further below for an explanation)
- females were 2.5 times as likely as males to be living with migraine (10.6% and 4.2% respectively)
- migraine was more common in people aged between 25 and 54
- estimates from previous NHSs and NATSIHSs of the prevalence of migraine among First Nations people range from 6% to 7.1%, from 9.1% to 10% for females and from 4% to 4.8% for males (ABS 2002b, 2006b, 2013, 2019)
- the sex difference for First Nations people has been present for over 20 years, in all previous comparable surveys, with females typically more than twice as likely as males to be living with migraine.
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey does not collect data on headache disorders other than migraine and so could not be used to estimate the prevalence of headache disorders more generally.
The NATSIHS relies on respondents self-reporting whether they have migraine that has lasted, or is likely to last, 6 months or more. The estimates from this source are likely to underestimate the true prevalence of migraine among First Nations people for several reasons:
- There may be people living with migraine but for whom the symptoms have manifested over shorter periods (for example, 1 or 2 months) some time ago (for example, 3 months ago), who would therefore not be aware that they are living with these as current long-term conditions.
- NATSIHS estimates include respondents who said that they have been told by a doctor that they are living with migraine, but research (with respondents from several European countries) has found that many people living with migraine may not have consulted a health professional (Katsarava et al. 2018); there may therefore be many First Nations people living with migraine but who have not been told so by a doctor.
- NATSIHS estimates also include respondents who said that they are living with migraine even though they had not been told so by a doctor, but research shows that people living with migraine may mistake their condition for some other type of headache (Lipton et al. 2002, Radtke and Neuhauser 2012); there may therefore be many First Nations people living with migraine but who would not report so.
These data gap issues need to be addressed for more accurate prevalence estimates. A nationally representative survey of First Nations people may address the data gaps by including diagnostic questions for migraine, which would avoid some issues around misreporting conditions.
More minor limitations are that the NATSIHS does not include information from people living in non-private dwellings, such as residential aged care facilities, hospitals or prisons. This may exclude people likely to experience certain long-term health conditions, such as migraine and other headache disorders.
Notwithstanding the limitations, the NATSIHS provides recent data from Australian households considered to be representative of First Nations people. This source therefore provides the best current estimates for how common migraine is among First Nations people.
Moreover, using data from the NATSIHS has further advantages. It allows for comparisons of prevalence over time and across different conditions given that data are collected for 72 conditions using similar methods. This further allows for an examination of comorbidity.
Hospitalisations
For First Nations people, based on the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), in 2023–24:
- there were almost 1,200 hospitalisations (115 per 100,000 population) due to migraine and headache disorders, representing 9.6% of hospitalisations with a neurological condition as the principal diagnosis
- migraine accounted for 92% of hospitalisations due to migraine and headache disorders
- females accounted for more than 4 in 5 (82%) hospitalisations due to migraine, with 175 hospitalisations per 100,000 females, compared with 37 hospitalisations per 100,000 males.
-
82%
of migraine hospitalisations for First Nations people were for females.
Emergency department presentations
For First Nations people, based on the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database (NAPEDC), in 2023–24:
- there were over 2,900 ED presentations with migraine and headache disorders recorded as the principal diagnosis, equivalent to 285 presentations per 100,000 population (440 and 130 presentations per 100,000 for females and males, respectively), representing 30% of ED presentations for First Nations people which had neurological conditions recorded as the principal diagnosis
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The rate of ED presentations (per 100,000 population) due to migraine and headache disorders among First Nations people was 3.4 times as high for females as for males.
- migraine accounted for 4 in 5 (80%) ED presentations due to migraine and headache disorders (principal diagnosis), equivalent to 230 presentations per 100,000 population
- females accounted for 4 in 5 (80%) ED presentations due to migraine, equivalent to 365 presentations per 100,000 First Nations females, compared with 90 presentations per 100,000 First Nations males.
Health-system costs
The Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24 report (AIHW 2025) did not include statistics for First Nations people. AIHW is working to expand the scope of the Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia report in future updates to include spending on First Nations people.
Burden of disease
Burden of disease is measured using the metric of disability-adjusted life years (DALY, also referred to as total burden). One DALY is one year of healthy life lost due to disease or injury.
DALY caused by living with disease or injury are referred to as non-fatal burden and measured in years lived with disability (YLD). DALY caused by premature death are referred to as fatal burden and measured in years of life lost (YLL).
The most recent burden of disease statistics for First Nations people, at the time of publication of this article, are from the ABDS 2018 (AIHW 2022).
In 2018:
- migraine was responsible for about 1,700 DALY, equivalent to 2.0 DALY per 1,000 population (2.4 DALY per 1,000 population, age-standardised), making it the 3rd (single) leading cause of total burden out of all neurological conditions for First Nations people
- females accounted for 65% of the total burden attributed to migraine for First Nations people, with an age-standardised rate of 3.1 DALY per 1,000 population, compared with 1.7 DALY per 1,000 for males (age-standardised).
Mortality
Based on the National Mortality Database (NMD), in 2023, there were 0 deaths with headache disorders recorded as the underlying cause for First Nations people.
More information and representative organisations
Healthdirect Australia is a government supported online service that provides health information, advice and referrals to the community. Their website contains information on a range of headache disorders covering topics such as symptoms, causes, how to get diagnosed, treatments and resources for further support.
Migraine Australia is a national patient advocacy organisation to support all Australians living with Migraine and their families. It advocates for people with migraine by lobbying, making submissions, and ensuring their voices are heard in decision-making. Migraine Australia drives practical improvements in care, support networks, and quality of life for the migraine community and promotes research to enhance the health and wellbeing of people with migraine.
Migraine and Headache Australia is a division of the Brain Foundation and aims to support Australians living with headache and migraine. It advocates to raise awareness about the impact of migraine and headaches, to secure funding for research and to improve access to medication.
Data sources
For details about the data sources used in this article, including the condition codes used to extract information about migraine and headache disorders from each source (for example, mortality, hospitalisations, et cetera), see Data sources in the Neurological conditions in Australia report.
Migraine
Prevalence estimates for migraine from the NHS 2022 and NATSIHS 2022-23 are based on the condition code 150602 and respondents who indicated (i) they had been told by a doctor that they have the condition and it is current, or (ii) they have the condition and it is current but had not been told by the doctor.
Frequent headaches or migraine
To get prevalence estimates for frequent headaches or migraine this article used unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this article, however, should not be attributed to the Australian Government, DSS, any of DSS’ contractors or partners, or to the Melbourne Institute.
The HILDA Survey is a household-based nationally representative survey that collects information on a wide range of aspects of life, including demographic details, health and wellbeing. This report used HILDA Survey GENERAL RELEASE 23 (Waves 1-23), ADA Dataverse, V2.
This report used responses to question K1a and K1b, variable name whemig (in Wave 23), which can be found in the documentation for the HILDA General Release 23. We applied cross-sectional weights to get estimates for the Australian population as described in the HILDA user manual using the provided programs (for R) in the HILDA Program Library.
Frequent headaches or migraine was added as a response option to question K1a and K1b in Wave 22 and so analysis of time trends is not yet possible.
Notes
The Neurological conditions in Australia 2025 project was undertaken by members of the Chronic Conditions Unit of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The AIHW acknowledges the ongoing contributions and consultation provided by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and the Neurological Conditions Expert Advisory Group. A special thanks is extended to Dr Emma Foster for her expert advice on migraine and headache disorders. For further information on contributions to the project, see Notes in the Neurological conditions in Australia report.
2 March 2026:
Figure 1, showing the percentage of Australians living with migraine, by age-group and sex, had incorrect data which did not match the text or the downloadable data tables. It has now been updated with the correct data.
Table 1.0 in Data tables: Migraine and headache disorders, had a column incorrectly labelled “Rate (per 100,000)”. The column does not contain any rates. It has now been correctly labelled to “Crude or age-standardised” indicating whether the percent in the row reflects a crude rate or an age-standardised rate.
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