Causes of death

• 125,162 deaths occurred between January and August 2025, 1.1% fewer than 2024 but 1.7% more than 2023.
• 17,066 deaths occurred in August 2025, 0.6% more than 2024 and 6.3% more than 2023.
• There were more deaths from respiratory diseases in August 2025 than from dementia.

• In August and September 2025 there were more deaths from influenza (434) than COVID-19 (270).
• Between January and September 2025 there were more deaths involving COVID-19 (1,966) than influenza (1,326).
• In 2025 there have been more deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people involving influenza than either COVID-19 or RSV.

Statistics on perinatal deaths including fetal (stillbirths) and neonatal deaths sourced from Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages

• Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease is now Australia’s leading cause of death.
• Ischaemic heart diseases are at their lowest rate in the available time series.
• There were 187,268 registered deaths in 2024, an increase of 4,137 since 2023.

• In 2024, 3,307 deaths have been classified as being due to suicide.
• The crude suicide rate was 12.2 per 100,000 people.
• Suicide was the 16th leading cause of death.
• People who died by suicide had a median age of 46.0 years.

• Drug and alcohol-induced deaths both increased in 2024.
• There were 269 deaths due to assault – 168 males and 101 females.
• Accidental falls were the leading external cause of death and the 8th leading cause overall.
• 17,470 deaths reported injuries or poisoning as an associated cause, an increase of 4.4%.

Statistics on doctor certified death registrations