Causes of Death, Australia

Latest release

Statistics on the number of deaths, by sex, selected age groups, and cause of death classified to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

Reference period
2022

Key statistics

  • There were 190,939 deaths in 2022, almost 20,000 more than 2021. 
  • COVID-19 caused 9,859 deaths and became the third leading cause. An infectious disease (influenza and pneumonia) was last in the top 5 leading causes of death in 1970.
  • Ischaemic heart disease remained the leading cause of death.

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Some of these statistics may cause distress. Services you can contact are detailed in blue boxes throughout this publication and in the Crisis support services section at the end of the publication.

The ABS uses, and supports the use of, the Mindframe guidelines on responsible, accurate and safe reporting on suicide, mental ill-health and alcohol and other drugs. The ABS recommends referring to these guidelines when reporting on statistics in this report.

Increased mortality during the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic

There were 190,939 deaths registered in 2022, with Australia’s pattern of mortality differing to that during the first two years of the pandemic. The number of deaths increased by almost 20,000 deaths from 2021 and the all-cause mortality rate was the highest recorded since 2015. Increases in deaths were recorded in all jurisdictions. Deaths due to COVID-19 were a significant contributor to the increase, causing just under 10,000 deaths and mentioned as a contributing factor on a further 2,782 death certificates. The Omicron variant was the dominant strain during 2022, with multiple waves across the year associated with the variant.

While the number of deaths in Australia is expected to increase over time due to an ageing population, the age-standardised rate typically is expected to decrease (there can be some annual fluctuations, e.g. due to a severe influenza season). This expected decrease in the mortality rate is due to factors such as improved medical care and treatments leading to longer life expectancy. The increase in the number and rate of deaths in 2022 led to Australia recording excess mortality (higher than expected mortality). Detailed analysis and official excess mortality estimates are provided in Measuring Australia’s excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic until the first quarter 2023.

The graph below shows the annual age-standardised death rate over the last 50 years. It demonstrates the reduction in rates over the period and the increase in 2022.

  1. Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Overview of leading causes of death

There was a change in the top 5 leading causes of death in 2022 with COVID-19 becoming the third leading cause of death. Ischaemic heart diseases remained the leading cause followed by Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, with Cerebrovascular diseases and Lung cancer rounding out the top 5. Chronic lower respiratory diseases became the sixth ranked cause in 2022. Notably:

  • This is the first time since 2006 that there has been a change in the top 5 leading causes. In 2006, Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, entered the top 5, overtaking bowel cancer.
  • This is the first time in over 50 years that an infectious disease has been in the top 5 leading causes of death in Australia. In 1968 and 1970, influenza and pneumonia was the fifth leading cause of death. 
  • The rate of death from COVID-19 has increased by 23.7 deaths per 100,000 since 2021 and 24.5 since 2020. In these years it was the 33rd and 38th leading cause of death.

The table below shows the top 5 leading causes of death for selected years historically. 1968 is the first year of data for which the ABS holds comprehensive leading cause data. Detailed data associated with this table is presented in the leading cause of death article on this topic page.

Top 5 leading causes of death for selected years, 1968-2022 (a)(b)(c)
 1968197719861996200620152022
1st Leading causeIschaemic heart diseasesIschaemic heart diseasesIschaemic heart diseasesIschaemic heart diseasesIschaemic heart diseasesIschaemic heart diseasesIschaemic heart diseases
2nd Leading causeCerebrovascular diseasesCerebrovascular diseasesCerebrovascular diseasesCerebrovascular diseasesCerebrovascular diseasesDementia, including Alzheimer's diseaseDementia, including Alzheimer's disease
3rd Leading causeChronic lower respiratory diseasesChronic lower respiratory diseasesMalignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lungChronic lower respiratory diseasesMalignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lungCerebrovascular diseasesCOVID-19
4th Leading causeLand transport accidentsMalignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lungChronic lower respiratory diseasesMalignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lungDementia, including Alzheimer's diseaseMalignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lungCerebrovascular diseases
5th Leading causeInfluenza and pneumoniaLand transport accidentsMalignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anusMalignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anusChronic lower respiratory diseasesChronic lower respiratory diseasesMalignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung

a. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
b. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
c. Refer to the methodology for more information

Proportion of deaths due to top 5 leading causes

The proportion of all deaths that can be attributed to the top 5 leading causes has changed over time. In the late 1960s, 70s and most of the 80s, these leading causes accounted for more than 50% of all deaths, with Ischaemic heart diseases responsible for as much as 30% of all deaths alone. Since 1990, the proportion attributable to the top 5 leading causes fell below 50% and has steadily declined since then. In 2022, these causes accounted for approximately one-third of all deaths, with Ischaemic heart diseases accounting for less than 10% of all deaths for the first time in the past 55 years.

The graph below shows the proportion of deaths caused by the top leading causes over selected years historically. As the leading causes are different for each period, the causes of death are labelled in the footnotes and in the table above.

  1. Leading causes 1968: 1. Ischaemic heart disease, 2. Cerebrovascular diseases, 3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases, 4. Land transport accidents, 5. Influenza and pneumonia
  2. Leading causes 1977: Ischaemic heart disease, 2. Cerebrovascular diseases, 3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases, 4. Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, 5. Land transport accidents
  3. Leading causes 1986: Ischaemic heart disease, 2. Cerebrovascular diseases, 3. Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, 4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases, 5. Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus
  4. Leading causes 1996: Ischaemic heart disease, 2. Cerebrovascular diseases, 3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases 4. Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, 5. Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus
  5. Leading causes 2006: Ischaemic heart disease, 2. Cerebrovascular diseases, 3. Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, 4. Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, 5. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
  6. Leading causes 2015: Ischaemic heart disease, 2. Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, 3. Cerebrovascular diseases, 4. Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, 5. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
  7. Leading causes 2022: Ischaemic heart disease, 2. Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, 3. COVID-19, 4. Cerebrovascular diseases, 5. Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung
  8. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
  9. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  10. Refer to the methodology for more information.

COVID-19 mortality

Most COVID-19 related deaths registered in 2022 occurred during one of the multiple Omicron waves of the pandemic. The Omicron variant was first detected in Australia in November 2021. Detailed information relating to COVID-19 mortality in Australia across all waves and including 2023 data, can be found at COVID-19 Mortality in Australia: Deaths registered until 31 July 2023.

In 2022:

  • There were 9,859 deaths due to COVID-19 registered in Australia (27.1 deaths per 100,000 people).
  • At the national level, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death.
  • COVID-19 was one of the top 10 leading causes of death in every state and territory.
  • There were a further 2,782 people who died of other causes (e.g., cancer), with COVID-19 mentioned as a contributory cause of death on their death certificate.

For those who died from COVID-19:

  • Their median age at death was 85.8 years. This is higher than the median age at death for all-cause mortality which was 82.2 years.
  • Over half were male (5,484 male deaths and 4,375 female deaths). In all presented age groupings below, there were more male deaths in each age group.
  • Pneumonia was the most common acute disease outcome and was present in 41.7% of COVID-19 deaths in 2022.
  • Cardiac conditions were the most commonly reported pre-existing conditions and were present in 33.0% of COVID-19 deaths in 2022.
  • New South Wales (3,608 deaths) and Victoria (2,956 deaths) had the highest number of deaths.

For those who died with COVID-19 as a contributory condition:

  • The most common underlying cause of death was Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (489 deaths).
  • The median age at death was 83.8 years.
COVID-19 mortality by age and sex, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
 Number of deathsAge-specific death rates(c)
Age (years)MalesFemalesMalesFemales
0-191090.30.3
20-291090.60.5
30-3929141.50.7
40-4956373.42.2
50-591689810.76.1
60-6941925131.017.4
70-791,238648127.661.8
80-892,1391,553531.6311.9
90+1,4151,7561,866.71,264.3
  1. Includes COVID-19 death registrations only. Numbers will differ to disease surveillance systems.
  2. Deaths due to COVID-19 have an underlying cause of ICD-10 code U07.1 COVID-19, virus identified; U07.2 COVID-19, virus not identified as the underlying cause of death; or U10.9 Multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19.
  3. Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
  4. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Respiratory disease mortality

Respiratory diseases (J00-J99) include acute manifestations such as influenza and pneumonia as well as chronic diseases such as emphysema, asthma and interstitial lung disease.

Tracking respiratory diseases through the COVID-19 pandemic has provided valuable insights into the success of public health measures. Many acute respiratory diseases (such as influenza and some types of pneumonia) are transmitted via droplets, so measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 can also reduce the spread of other communicable diseases. This was reflected in the low number of deaths due to influenza occurring in 2020 and 2021.

In addition, people with chronic lung diseases can be particularly vulnerable to poor outcomes from contracting infectious diseases such as influenza and COVID-19. Historically, respiratory disease mortality rates have reflected the severity of the annual influenza season, with higher rates observed during years with severe flu seasons such as 2017 and 2019.

In 2022:

  • The mortality rate from respiratory diseases was 42.5 per 100,000 people. This was an increase of 8.4% from 2021, but remained lower than rates before 2020.
  • The increase in 2022 was driven by deaths due to chronic respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
  • COPD (J44) represented 3.6% of all deaths.

Acute respiratory diseases:

  • There were 305 people who died from influenza in 2022. This contrasts with 2 people in 2021, which was the lowest number of annual flu deaths on record.
  • The mortality rate for influenza and pneumonia as a combined group remained low at 7.5 per 100,000 people.
  • The number of deaths due to influenza and pneumonia increased by 32.3%, and returned to the top 20 leading causes of death after dropping out for the first time in 2021.
  • Pneumonia is a common terminal cause of death, especially for older people who have long-term chronic conditions. There was an increase of 33.5% in the rate of influenza and pneumonia as an associated cause of death in 2022 (42.6 per 100,000 people). This increase was driven by more deaths due to COVID-19, which was the underlying cause of death for over a quarter of these deaths (27.0%).
  • The next most common underlying causes were chronic lower respiratory diseases (10.8%) and dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (10.8%).
  1. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  4. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Overview of key mortality indicators (sex and age)

All-cause mortality by sex

To show the mortality pattern over the last decade, age-standardised death rates (SDRs) are presented below for males, females and persons.

In 2022:

  • There were 190,939 deaths with a mortality rate of 547.6 deaths per 100,000 people.
  • This was the highest all-cause mortality rate since 2015 (552.5 per 100,000 people).
  • The mortality rate increased by 8.0% from 2021, and by 11.5% from 2020. The mortality rates for 2020 and 2021 were the lowest and second lowest on record.
  • 52.3% of deaths were male (99,924) and 47.7% were female (91,015).
  • Mortality rates increased by 8.1% for males and 7.8% for females, with both remaining below 2015 rates.
  1. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  4. Refer to the methodology for more information.

All-cause mortality by age

Deaths data is presented in the table below as age-specific death rates (ASDRs) for selected age groups. In 2021, age-specific death rates increased for all age groups except those aged 25-44 years. In 2022, age-specific death rates continued to increase except for those aged 0-24 years.

In 2022:

  • Over half (56%) of all deaths were of people aged 80 years and older.
  • The death rates for those aged 45-64 years and 85 years and over were the highest in the 10-year time series.
  • The death rate for males aged 0-24 years was the lowest in the 10-year time series.
  • After decreasing in 2021, the rate for males and females aged 25-44 increased by 8.0% and 5.1%, respectively.
  • The largest proportional rate increase was for females aged 85 years and over (10.3%). This age group had the largest proportional rate decrease in 2020.
  • The median age at death was 82.2 years (79.7 for males, 85.0 for females).
Age-specific death rates for all-cause mortality, by sex and age group, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)
Age group and sex2013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Males          
0-2443.339.341.641.140.740.542.039.340.438.5
25-4499.9107.3108.4104.9105.299.2101.397.494.6102.2
45-64439.2454.5457.5445.5437436.1446.3422.4426.3455.0
65-842,615.02,558.62,528.22,478.42,430.12,352.02,359.22,245.72,312.52,531.1
85+14,442.014,482.914,775.814,515.914,535.814,028.814,358.613,449.214,050.515,415.3
Females          
0-2429.327.526.924.725.924.025.324.025.426.0
25-4453.555.754.956.552.249.950.649.349.151.5
45-64270.4272.9271.7265.4262.5265.0261.4250.7256.7275.1
65-841,761.51,766.91,748.41,673.11,661.81,587.81,597.41,493.71,558.11,669.2
85+12,395.112,803.313,079.412,636.112,784.812,206.512,629.111,764.712,423.113,700.2
Persons          
0-2436.533.634.433.133.532.433.931.933.132.5
25-4476.781.581.680.678.674.575.873.271.776.8
45-64353.8362.4363.0353.7348.0348.9352.1334.9340.1363.5
65-842,171.22,147.62,123.82,061.12,031.81,955.51,963.21,854.31,919.42,081.3
85+13,122.313,409.313,701.213,334.113,442.112,897.113,290.912,415.913,059.214,379.2

a. Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
b. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
c. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Potentially avoidable mortality and selected external causes of death

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For further information see Crisis support services.

Completeness of coroner-referred deaths in 2022

Deaths that are referred to a coroner can take time to be fully investigated, which subsequently affects the availability of data to the ABS for cause of death coding.

At the time of coding 2022 data, there was a high proportion of open coroner cases (65.2%), similar to the proportion at the time of preliminary coding of 2021 data (67.2%). This is higher than previous years (5-year average for 2015-2019 of 56.2%). This is reflected in the 2022 dataset by a higher proportion of deaths due to Other ill-defined and unspecified causes of mortality (R99).

Some causes of death are more sensitive to the revisions process than others. These include drug-induced deaths, suicide and assault. Tabulations included with these causes of death for deaths registered in 2022 should be treated with caution, with data considered preliminary. It is expected that the number of deaths will increase when the ABS revisions process is applied. See 'Coroner certified deaths data' in the Data quality section of the methodology for more information.

Potentially avoidable mortality

Potentially avoidable mortality refers to deaths of persons under 75 years of age that arise from conditions that may be avoided through individualised care, or treated through primary care or hospitalisation (METeOR, 2021). Conditions causing potentially avoidable deaths include natural diseases (e.g., specific types of cancer, ischaemic heart disease, diabetes, and infectious diseases) and external causes of death (e.g., accidents, suicides, and assaults). To enable comparisons over time, all rates presented in this section are age-standardised, which takes into account changes in the structure and size of the population over time.

On average, 40.2% of potentially avoidable deaths are referred to a coroner (compared with 12-14% of all deaths). Data for 2020, 2021 and 2022 is not yet final - numbers of potentially avoidable deaths should be interpreted with caution, as they will increase when the ABS revisions process is applied. 

In 2022:

  • There were 28,509 potentially avoidable deaths (18,080 males and 10,429 females). This compares to 27,225 deaths in 2021 (17,291 males and 9,934 females).
  • The mortality rate for potentially avoidable deaths increased by 3.5% from 2021 but remained lower than rates prior to 2020 in the 10-year time series.
  • While the mortality rate has increased for both males and females when compared to 2021, the sex ratio has remained relatively constant at 1.8 (male to female).

 

  1. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. Potentially avoidable deaths are according to the National Healthcare Agreement: PI 16- Potentially Avoidable Deaths, 2021 Classification.
  3. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  4. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicides

Data for 2020, 2021 and 2022 is not yet final – suicide numbers should be interpreted with caution, as they will increase when the ABS revisions process is applied. Revised data for deaths due to suicide registered in 2020, 2021 and 2022 will be published in early 2024. 

In 2022:

  • There were 3,249 deaths due to suicide (2,455 males and 794 females). This compares to 3,166 suicides in 2021 (2,375 males and 791 females).
  • The age-standardised suicide rate was 12.3 deaths per 100,000 people, which was a slight increase from 2021 (12.1).
  • The age-standardised suicide rate increased by 2.7% for males from 2021, while the rate for females decreased by 3.3%.
  • The median age at death for people who died by suicide was 45.6 (46.0 for males and 44.1 for females).
  • Suicide remained the 15th leading cause of death.
  • Almost 85.8% of people who died by suicide had risk factors identified. The most commonly recorded suicide risk factors included mood affective disorders (F30-F39), suicide ideation (R458), problems with spousal relationships (Z630, Z635) and personal history of self-harm (Z915). For more information see Intentional self-harm deaths (Suicide) in Australia.
Crude and age-standardised suicide rates, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)
 No.Crude rate(b)Age-standardised death rate(c)
20132,62911.411.2
20142,93712.512.3
20153,10013.012.9
20162,93912.112.0
20173,29213.413.2
20183,20512.812.7
20193,37713.313.2
20203,19612.512.3
20213,16612.312.1
20223,24912.512.3
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Crude death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June
  3. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  4. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  5. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  6. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  7. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  8. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Motor vehicle accidents

  • There were 1,267 deaths from motor vehicle accidents in 2022 (961 males and 306 females). This compares to 1,226 deaths from motor vehicle accidents in 2021 (934 males and 292 females).
  • The age-standardised death rate from motor vehicle accidents increased by 2.2% from 2021 but was lower than rates recorded prior to 2020 in the 10-year time series.
  • The death rate increased by 4.8% for females from 2021, while the rate did not change for males in the same period.
  • For males, those aged 65-84 years had the largest numerical increase with 32 more deaths due to motor vehicle accidents than in 2021. The largest decrease was seen in males aged under 24 years, with 17 fewer deaths in this group than in 2021.
  • For females, the rate increase was driven by those aged under 44 years, with 21 more deaths in this group than in 2021.
  1. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. Motor vehicle accidents includes ICD-10 codes V00-V79 and V89.2.
  3. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  4. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Assaults

Data for 2020, 2021 and 2022 is not yet final - numbers of deaths due to assault should be interpreted with caution, as they are expected to increase when the ABS revisions process is applied. Revised data for deaths due to assault registered in 2020, 2021 and 2022 will be published in early 2024. 

In 2022:

  • There were 228 deaths due to assault (158 males and 70 females). This compares to 215 deaths due to assault in 2021 (154 males and 61 females).
  • The age-standardised death rate for assault increased from 0.8 per 100,000 people in 2021 to 0.9 per 100,000 people in 2022.
  • The largest numerical increase in assault deaths was in females aged between 45 and 64 years, with 11 more deaths for this group than in 2021.
  • The largest numerical decrease was for males aged between 45 and 54 years (6 fewer deaths than in 2021).
  1. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. The data presented for assaults includes ICD-10 codes X85-Y09 and Y87.1.
  3. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  4. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Drug-induced deaths

Drug-induced deaths are those which are directly attributable to drug use. They include deaths due to acute drug toxicity (e.g., overdose) and chronic drug use (e.g., drug-induced cardiac conditions).

On average, 97% of drug-induced deaths are certified by a coroner. Multiple complex factors must be considered when a death is certified as drug induced. These factors include:

  • The timing between the death and toxicology testing which can influence the levels and types of drugs detected, making it difficult to determine the true level of a drug at the time of death.
  • Individual tolerance levels may vary considerably depending on factors such as sex, body mass and previous drug exposure.
  • Contextual factors such as preexisting natural disease and reports from informants (e.g., friends and families) regarding the circumstances of the death.

For these reasons, it can take a significant amount of time to certify a death as drug-induced, making these deaths particularly sensitive to the revisions process.

Data for 2020, 2021 and 2022 is not yet final - numbers of drug-induced deaths should be interpreted with caution, as they are expected to increase when the ABS revisions process is applied. Revised data for drug-induced deaths registered in 2020, 2021 and 2022 will be published in early 2024. 

In 2022:

  • There were 1,693 drug-induced deaths (1,082 males and 611 females). This compares to 1,788 deaths in 2021 (1,120 males and 668 females).
  • Drug-induced deaths registered in New South Wales had the greatest rate decrease from 2021 (24.2%) compared to other states and territories. It is expected that there is some administrative affect to this decrease: when the revisions process is applied, the number and rate of drug-induced deaths is likely to increase.
  • The sex ratio for drug-induced deaths was 1.9 (male to female). 
  • The median age at death was 47.4 years. For males the median age at death was 45.4 years and for females 50.0 years. 
  • Opioids were the most common drug class identified in toxicology for drug-induced deaths.
  1. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. Drug-induced deaths based on both acute and chronic effects of drugs.
  3. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  4. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.
Age-standardised death rates for drug-induced deaths, by state of registration, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
2013201420152016201720182019202020212022
NSW6.67.37.57.57.97.77.36.86.24.7
Vic.5.97.27.38.48.57.67.886.78
Qld6.97.68.47.77.88.27.47.16.75.4
SA6.27.16.97.88.37.67.76.86.77.7
WA6.78.79.19.51010.210.69.89.28.5
Tas.6.27.46.410.586.78.16.66.96.7
NTnpnpnpnpnpnpnpnpnpnp
ACT5.57.8np7.389.1912.711.110.3

np not available for publication

  1. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. Drug-induced deaths based on both acute and chronic effects of drugs.
  3. Data in this table is presented by the state in which the death was registered. Data for drug-induced deaths by state of usual residence can be found in the data downloads section of this publication.
  4. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Alcohol-induced deaths

Alcohol-induced deaths are those where the underlying cause can be directly attributed to alcohol use, including acute conditions such as alcohol poisoning or chronic conditions such as alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

On average, 70.1% of alcohol-induced deaths are certified by a doctor. These deaths are primarily caused by chronic alcohol-induced conditions. As a result, alcohol-induced deaths data are less likely to be impacted by ABS revisions than causes with a higher proportion of coroner referral such as drug-induced deaths and suicides.

In 2022:

  • There were 1,742 alcohol-induced deaths (1,245 males and 497 females).
  • There was a 9.1% increase in the alcohol-induced death rate, with 164 additional deaths since 2021.
  • The age-standardised rate for alcohol-induced deaths was 8.7 for males and 3.4 for females, representing the highest rates per 100,000 people in the 10-year time series.
  • The rate increase is largely due to complications associated with chronic alcohol use including liver cirrhosis and liver failure.
  • The largest numerical increase in alcohol-induced deaths from 2021 was in females aged 45-64 years (55 more deaths) and males aged 65-84 years (47 more deaths).
  1. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  2. Alcohol-induced deaths includes ICD-10 codes; E24.4, G31.2, G62.1, G72.1, I42.6, K29.2, K85.2, K86.0, F10, K70, X45, X65, Y15.
  3. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  4. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Australia's leading causes of death

  • In 2022 there were 190,939 deaths, with an age-standardised death rate of 547.6 deaths per 100,000 people.
  • COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in Australia. An infectious disease has not appeared in the top 5 leading causes of death in Australia since Influenza and pneumonia was ranked 5th in 1970.
  • Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death, accounting for 9.8% of all deaths, the first time Ischaemic heart disease has accounted for less than 10.0% of all deaths since official cause of death statistics began collection in 1968.

Leading causes of death

There were 190,939 deaths registered in Australia in 2022, an increase of close to 20,000 deaths from 2021. The age-standardised mortality rate increased to 547.6 deaths per 100,000 people, up from 507.2 the previous year. 

For people whose death was registered in 2022:

  • 52.3% were male (99,924) and 47.7% were female (91,015).
  • Their median age at death was 82.2 years (79.7 for males, 85.0 for females).
  • The top 5 leading causes accounted for approximately one-third of all registered deaths. 

Identifying and comparing leading causes of death in populations is useful for tracking changes in patterns of mortality and identifying emerging trends. For more information related to the tabulation of leading causes, see the Methodology section of this publication.

Leading causes of death in 2022:

  • Ischaemic heart disease remained the leading cause of death, followed by Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease at second. 
  • COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death. This represents the first change to the top 5 leading causes of death since 2006 when Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease first appeared, overtaking bowel cancer. 
  • Australia has not had an infectious disease in the top 5 leading causes of death since 1970, when deaths due to influenza and pneumonia were the fifth leading cause. The median age at death for influenza and pneumonia was 74.3 compared to COVID which was 86.0 in 2022. While deaths due to influenza and pneumonia are often categorised as respiratory diseases, influenza is a viral infection of the respiratory tract and pneumonia is a lung infection which can be caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi. 
  • Cerebrovascular disease and Lung cancer rounded out the top 5 leading causes.
  • Chronic lower respiratory disease dropped to the 6th leading cause of death due to the introduction of COVID-19 in the top 5 cause rankings.
  • People who died from Dementia, including Alzheimer's had the highest median age at death for causes in the top 20 at 89.0 years. 
  • Suicide was the 15th leading cause of death. People who died by suicide had a median age at death of 45.6.

Leading causes of death over the last decade (since 2013): 

  • Deaths due to Ischaemic heart disease and Cerebrovascular disease decreased by 6.1% and 7.0% respectively.
  • Deaths due to Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease increased by 56.0%, resulting in a narrowing with deaths due to Ischaemic heart disease. 
  • Diabetes deaths increased by almost 40.0%, but remained the 7th leading cause over the period. 
  • Deaths from Accidental falls more than doubled over the period, and has had the largest increase in leading cause ranking. Accidental falls are the 11th leading cause of death, compared to the 18th a decade ago. They are the highest ranked external cause of death. 
Leading causes of death, Australia - selected years - 2013, 2017, 2021, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
 2013201720212022
Cause of death and ICD-10 codeNo.RankNo.RankNo.RankNo.RankMedian age (years)
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)19,858119,043117,419118,643183.8
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)10,965213,991215,957217,106289.0
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)0na0na1,122359,859385.8
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)10,570310,29839,83739,829485.8
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)8,23048,29158,67749,048575.2
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)7,17458,49747,81858,580680.3
Diabetes (E10-E14)4,35674,93775,40276,050782.3
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)5,39865,35865,47165,410878.3
Malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)4,11584,56385,08385,168978.7
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)2,997113,474104,24994,5711087.3
Accidental falls (W00-W19)2,014182,909163,801104,0841187.5
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)3,25693,449113,643113,9191288.9
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)3,127103,322123,621123,7991382.8
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)2,572143,008143,432133,6871475.4
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)2,629133,292133,166143,2491545.6
Malignant neoplasm of breast (C50)2,902122,953153,159153,1691674.0
Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49)1,896192,357182,642162,7821789.4
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)2,509154,09092,087222,7621888.4
Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)2,164172,370172,443172,6381988.8
Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver (K70-K76)1,779201,968202,325182,6002065.0
All Causes148,265 162,044 171,469 190,939 82.2

na not applicable

  1. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
  2. Groupings of deaths coded to Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) are not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. Furthermore, many deaths coded to this chapter are likely to be affected by revisions, and are recoded to more specific causes of death as they progress through the revisions process.
  3. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  4. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Age-standardised death rates

Age-standardised death rates enable the comparison of death rates over time as they account for changes in the size and age structure of the population. Refer to Mortality tabulations and methodologies, Age-standardised death rates (SDRs) in the Methodology section of this publication for more information.

For age-standardised death rates between 2013 to 2022:

  • Ischaemic heart disease decreased by 25.7% over the decade. The SDR increased from 2020 in both 2021 and 2022, after annual decreases in each of the 8 years prior. 
  • The gap between Ischaemic heart disease and Dementia has narrowed over time; however the rate difference has slowed since the start of the pandemic.
  • While the number of Dementia deaths has increased over the 10 year period, the age-standardised death rate for Dementia has been more stable.
  • Cerebrovascular disease decreased by 27.0%.
  • Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (Lung cancer) decreased by 15.3%.
  • The rate of death from COVID-19 was 27.1 per 100,000 people, approximately 8 times higher than the rate in 2021 and over 10 times higher than the rate in 2020. 
  1. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June (mid year). See the glossary and the Mortality tabulations and methodologies section for further information.
  4. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Years of potential life lost

Years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a measure of premature mortality which weights age at death to gain an estimate of how many years a person would have lived had they not died prematurely. Causes of death with a median age less than the life expectancy will have a higher number of YPLL. When considered in terms of premature mortality, the leading causes of death have a notably different profile. Refer to Mortality tabulations and methodologies - Years of potential life lost (YPLL) in the Methodology section of this publication for more information.

In 2022:

  • Suicide is a leading cause of premature death accounting for the highest number of potential years of life lost (108,762). People who died by suicide had a median age at death of 45.6.
  • Ischaemic heart disease had the highest number of deaths occurring in those aged under 78 but the second highest number of YPLL at 76,865 years. People who died from Ischaemic heart disease had a median age at death of 83.8.
  • People who died from Lung cancer, Transport accidents and Accidental poisoning had the 3rd, 4th and 5th highest YPLL, with median ages at 75.2, 46.4 and 46.1, respectively.
  1. For information on YPLL see Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
  2. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
  3. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  4. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by sex - Males

For the 99,924 males who died in 2022:

  • COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death (5,484 deaths), up from 33rd in 2021 (660 deaths). The rate of death from COVID-19 was 34.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
  • Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death (11,303 deaths) and remains considerably higher than the second ranked cause (Dementia at 6,130 deaths).
  • Prostate cancer was the seventh leading cause of death and second leading cause of cancer death.
  • Suicide was the 11th leading cause. Three-quarters (75.6%) of people who died by suicide were male. Deaths due to suicide were the highest ranked external cause of death in males. 

For males from 2013 to 2022:

  • The death rate for Ischaemic heart disease decreased by 23.5%.
  • The death rate for Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease increased by 19.6%.
  • The death rate for Lung cancer decreased by 22.0%.
Leading causes of death, males, Australia - selected years - 2013, 2017, 2021, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
 2013201720212022
Cause of death and ICD-10 codeNo.Rate(c)No.Rate(c)No.Rate(c)No.Rate(c)Rank
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)11,08394.510,84281.410,44269.111,30372.21
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)3,66732.44,97837.85,67037.46,13038.72
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)nananana6604.45,48434.83
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)5,00041.44,93236.24,97132.25,14532.34
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)3,81832.94,35232.73,95725.84,43928.05
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)4,18436.34,35733.04,19727.74,31627.56
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)3,12726.93,32224.93,62123.63,79823.87
Diabetes (E10-E14)2,31819.82,63719.82,95219.43,24720.78
Malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)2,36819.92,70120.23,08320.23,04619.39
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)2,91024.42,88421.52,89219.22,79718.010
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)1,95816.92,45420.02,37518.32,45518.811
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)1,31711.51,55911.81,93412.72,07613.112
Accidental falls (W00-W19)9618.31,36910.41,91812.72,04613.013
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)1,34511.11,57411.61,78411.61,91212.114
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)1,42512.41,56011.81,61310.71,76311.215
Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver (K70-K76)1,1859.71,3269.91,50810.41,59210.816
Melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin (C43-C44)1,53112.81,3049.71,4729.71,5609.917
Parkinson's disease (G20)9018.01,1719.01,4529.61,5549.818
Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)1,0418.61,2479.11,4719.51,5129.619
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)1,1399.91,86414.09806.51,3218.420

na not applicable

  1. For information on WHO leading causes and age-standardised death rates see Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June (mid year). See the glossary and the Mortality tabulations and methodologies section for further information.
  4. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by sex - Females

For the 91,015 females who died in 2022:

  • COVID-19 was the fourth leading cause of death (4,375 deaths). The rate of death from COVID-19 was 20.9 deaths per 100,000, which was 8.3 times higher than 2021.
  • Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease was the leading cause of death (10,976 deaths).
  • The death rate for Dementia increased by 23.9% over the last decade. Close to two-thirds of people who died from Dementia were female.
  • Ischaemic heart disease was the second leading cause with 7,340 deaths.
  • Breast cancer was the seventh leading cause overall and second leading cause of cancer deaths with 3,140 deaths.
Leading causes of death, females, Australia - selected years - 2013, 2017, 2021, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
 2013201720212022
Cause of death and ICD-10 codeNo.Rate(c)No.Rate(c)No.Rate(c)No.Rate(c)Rank
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)7,29840.09,01345.410,28747.610,97649.61
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)8,77550.38,20143.46,97733.97,34035.02
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)6,38637.05,94131.95,64027.75,51326.43
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)nananana4622.54,37520.94
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)3,35621.84,14524.53,86120.54,14121.35
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)3,23023.03,35921.43,70621.03,90321.66
Malignant neoplasms of breast (C50)2,87120.52,92319.13,13018.43,14017.87
Diabetes (E10-E14)2,03812.82,30013.22,45012.62,80314.08
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)2,48816.72,47415.12,57914.12,61314.09
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)1,6809.91,91510.22,31511.12,49511.710
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)1,83110.21,8899.62,0309.42,1569.811
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)1,74711.91,86211.52,00010.92,12211.312
Accidental falls (W00-W19)1,0536.01,5408.01,8839.02,0389.413
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)1,2278.41,4349.01,6489.11,7759.614
Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49)1,2146.81,4737.51,5767.31,6897.615
Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)1,3937.71,4937.61,4766.91,6427.516
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)1,3707.82,22611.51,1075.21,4416.817
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99)8094.99555.49995.11,0625.218
Nonrheumatic valve disorders (I34-I38)8024.69284.89224.41,0434.919
Malignant neoplasm of ovary (C56)9516.89926.41,0516.11,0315.820

na not applicable

  1. For information on WHO leading causes and age-standardised death rates see Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June (mid year). See the glossary and the Mortality tabulations and methodologies section for further information.
  4. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by state of usual residence

The leading cause of death profile for Australia is not the same across all jurisdictions. The table below shows the top 10 leading causes of death for each state and territory in 2022, providing insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic differed across jurisdictions in this time. 

Leading causes of death for states and territories in 2022:

  • COVID-19 appeared in the top 10 leading causes for all jurisdictions. The ranking differed across the states and territories ranging from being the 3rd leading cause (in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Australian Capital Territory) to the 9th in Northern Territory.
  • COVID-19 was the 6th leading cause in the remaining jurisdictions (Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania). 
  • The top 10 leading cause profile for New South Wales is the same as the leading causes for Australia overall. Deaths in New South Wales account for approximately one-third of all deaths.
  • Ischaemic heart disease is the top leading cause in each jurisdiction, except for South Australia and Australian Capital Territory, where Dementia, including Alzheimer's is the leading cause of death.
  • Deaths from external causes contribute to a greater proportion of mortality in Northern Territory when compared with other jurisdictions. Transport accidents and Intentional self-harm were the 6th and 7th ranked leading causes.
Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2022 (a)(b)(c)
Cause of death and ICD-10 codeNo. of deathsState/territory leading cause rankingAustralia leading cause ranking
New South Wales   
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)5,85211
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)5,74122
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)3,60833
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)3,39544
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)2,87155
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)2,80266
Diabetes (E10-E14)2,02977
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)1,77988
Malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)1,66799
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)1,5191010
Victoria   
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)4,48311
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)3,89422
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)2,95633
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)2,33644
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)2,19955
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)2,02566
Accidental falls (W00-W19)1,516711
Diabetes (E10-E14)1,50287
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)1,39798
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)1,3581010
Queensland   
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)4,05711
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)3,53722
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)2,09134
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)2,04445
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)1,79356
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)1,58163
Diabetes (E10-E14)1,13477
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)1,11988
Malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)1,01599
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)8541013
South Australia   
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)1,62212
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)1,52321
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)76733
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)70846
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)69055
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)68964
Diabetes (E10-E14)48577
Malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)40389
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)39698
Accidental falls (W00-W19)3821011
Western Australia   
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)1,81811
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)1,62422
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)87034
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)80445
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)75956
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)57963
Diabetes (E10-E14)53177
Accidental falls (W00-W19)526811
Malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)49799
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)463108
Tasmania   
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)55311
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)37222
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)30936
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)29144
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)28055
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)18663
Diabetes (E10-E14)17977
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)15788
Accidental falls (W00-W19)132911
Malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)131109
Northern Territory   
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)14711
Diabetes (E10-E14)10527
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)6832
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)6745
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)6656
Land transport accidents (V01-V89, Y85)50630
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)49715
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)4484
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)4483
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)321010
Australian Capital Territory   
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)24812
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)20721
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)13633
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)11846
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)11254
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)9265
Diabetes (E10-E14)8577
Malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)8189
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)6998
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)631010
  1. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Refer to the methodology for more information

Leading causes of death- historical trends

The table below presents a time series of leading causes of death for selected years from 1968 to 2022. 

Over the last 55 years: 

  • The top 5 leading causes of death remained the same between 2006 and 2021, with some variance in rankings. With the introduction COVID-19 as the third leading cause in 2022, Chronic lower respiratory disease no longer features in the top 5.
  • While deaths due to Ischaemic heart disease have been the leading cause of death over the 55 year period, they have decreased by 44.2%. Between 1968 and 1978 Ischaemic heart disease accounted for approximately 30% of all deaths. This compares to less than 10% in 2022.
  • In 1968 Dementia, including Alzheimer's contributed to 0.2% of all deaths, compared to 9.0% in 2022. Dementia, including Alzheimer's first appeared in the top 5 leading causes of death in 2006 when it overtook bowel cancer (currently the 8th leading cause). 
  • Cerebrovascular disease was ranked 2nd from 1968 until 2013, when Dementia, including Alzheimer's became the 2nd leading cause. Between 1968 and 2022, deaths due to Cerebrovascular disease have decreased by 36.0%.
  • Influenza and pneumonia was the fifth leading cause of death in 1968 and most recently appeared in the top 5 causes of death in 1970. This is the last time an infectious disease appeared in the top 5 leading causes of death. While the number of deaths has remained relatively stable across years, their relative contribution to all deaths has decreased due to our growing population.
  • Since the 1970's deaths due to lung cancer have consistently caused 4-6% of deaths each year. 
Top 5 Leading causes of death, Australia - selected years (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
Cause of death and ICD codeNo.Rank in 1968Rank in 2022% of all deaths
1968    
Ischaemic heart disease (410-413)33,4111130.5
Cerebrovascular disease (430-434, 436-438)15,3632414.0
Chronic lower respiratory disease (490-493, 518)3,706363.4
Land transport accidents (E800-E827)3,5884313.3
Influenza and pneumonia (470-474, 480-486)3,2755193.0
All causes109,547  100.0
1977    
Ischaemic heart disease (410-413)32,6751130
Cerebrovascular disease (430-434, 436-438)14,5302413.4
Chronic lower respiratory disease (490-493, 518)4,369364.0
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (162)4,326654.0
Land transport accidents (E800-E827)4,0104313.7
All causes108,790  100.0
1986    
Ischaemic heart disease (410-414)32,0031127.8
Cerebrovascular disease (430-438)12,4912410.9
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (162)5,702655.0
Chronic lower respiratory disease (490-496)5,554364.8
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (153-154)4,132883.6
All causes114,981  100.0
1996    
Ischaemic heart disease (410-414)29,6371123
Cerebrovascular disease (430-438)12,806249.9
Chronic lower respiratory disease (490-496)6,961365.4
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (162)6,827655.3
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (153-154)4,618883.6
All causes128,719  100.0
2006    
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)23,1321117.3
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)11,480248.6
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)7,353655.5
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)6,550 24.9
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)5,463364.1
All causes133,755  100.0
2015    
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)19,9261112.5
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)12,6414027.9
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)10,871246.8
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)8,478655.3
Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40-J47)8,025365.0
All causes159,170  100.0
2022    
Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)18,643119.8
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)17,1064029.0
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)9,859na35.2
Cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69)9,829245.1
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)9,048654.7
All causes190,939  100.0

na not applicable

  1. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Mortality tabulations and methodologies for further information. 
  2. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  4. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) undergoes periodic revisions by the World Health Organization to reflect changes in medical terminology, medical knowledge and death certification. Although large disease groups can be mapped between different versions of the ICD there may be slight differences in disease groupings between versions.
  5. Registration years 1968-1978 have been coded to ICD-8; Registration years 1979-1996 have been coded to ICD-9; Registration years 1997-2022 have been coded to ICD-10.
  6. Refer to the methodology for more information

Leading causes of death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

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Changes to derivation of Indigenous status for deaths registered in NSW

In 2022, information from the cause of death process including the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) and coronial information was made available to the ABS by the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages as a secondary source for determining the Indigenous status of the deceased. This aligns NSW with all other states and territories with the exception of Victoria, where only one source is used for deriving Indigenous status. Use of this additional source has led to improved recording of Indigenous status. This change has introduced a break in time series in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death statistics in NSW and Australia. Therefore caution should be used when making comparisons with previous years. For more information on this change and the impacts refer to Technical Note: The impact of using two sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in NSW in 2022.

Across Australia in 2022, there were 5,082 deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (2,751 males and 2,331 females).

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia in 2022 (all states and territories):

  • Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death (586 deaths). 
  • COVID-19 was the 9th leading cause of death (155 deaths).
  • The Northern Territory recorded the highest mortality rate. It is the only jurisdiction where females have a higher crude rate than males.

The table below presents for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: numbers of deaths, crude death rates and age-standardised mortality rates for each jurisdiction in 2022. Age-standardised rates enable the comparison of populations with different age structures. 


Deaths, Crude and Age-standardised death rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, all jurisdictions, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 MalesFemalesPersons
 No.Crude rate(b)SDR(c)No.Crude rate(b)SDR(c)No.Crude rate(b)SDR(c)

NSW

942

634.5

1203.5

749

502.9

956.8

1,691

568.6

1076.2

Vic.

188

np

np

149

np

np

337

np

np

Qld

681

542.6

1142.8

590

463.7

925.4

1,271

502.9

1027.2

SA

140

596.3

1166.8

135

563.7

1081.4

275

579.9

1125.7

WA

399

708.2

1456.6

334

597.3

1164.7

733

653

1302.1

Tas.

73

np

np

51

np

np

124

np

np

NT

305

757.7

1510.7

312

805.4

1366.6

617

781.1

1432.3

ACT

22

np

np

7

np

np

29

np

np

np not available for publication

  1. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  2. Crude death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  3. Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  4. Crude rates and Age-standardised Death Rates (SDRs) based on small numbers are volatile and unreliable. SDRs based on less than 20 deaths and crude rates based on a very low death count have not been published and appear as 'np'.
  5. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census. These rates may differ from those previously published.
  6. Data is reported by state or territory of usual residence.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by 5 jurisdictions: NSW, Qld, WA, SA, NT

Measures of mortality relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are key inputs for assessing targets and outcomes of the Closing the Gap strategy. This strategy aims to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to overcome inequality and achieve life outcomes equal to all Australians across areas such as life expectancy, education and employment. In July 2020 all Australian governments committed to 17 targets under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (Australian Government, 2020). Leading cause of death data presented in this next section is used as a key indicator to measure progress against these targets.

Methods for reporting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths

Data reported in the remainder of this article (excluding deaths due to COVID-19 in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) are compiled by jurisdiction of usual residence for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory only. These jurisdictions have been found to have a higher quality of identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin allowing more robust analysis of data. Data for those with a usual residence in Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory is unsuitable for comparisons of changes over time, and have been excluded in the remainder of this section of the publication. Data presented in this release may underestimate the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died.

For further information see Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Methodology.

In 2022 there were 4,587 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died across the 5 jurisdictions (NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT). 

  • Their median age was 62.9 years. The median age at death has increased by nearly ten years over the last two decades (53.2 years in 2003) and is the highest recorded for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
  • Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death for both males and females. 
  • COVID-19 was the 9th leading cause of death. For males it was the 11th leading cause of death and for females it was the 7th leading cause.
  • Suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death for males. 

Age-standardised death rates over time

To measure changes over time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, age-standardised death rates for males, females and all persons are presented in the graph below. The age-standardised death rate in 2022 increased by 18.7% since 2021 to 1,131 deaths per 100,000 people. While there has been an increase in overall mortality in 2022 for the whole population, the higher number of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be interpreted with caution due to the administrative changes in NSW for recording Indigenous status.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died between 2013 and 2022: 

  • the rate is consistently higher for males compared to females
  • the rate ratio ranged between 1.2 to 1.3 male deaths for every female death.
  1. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  2. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  3. The 2022 increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths is influenced by the use of information from the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  5. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  6. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census. These rates may differ from those previously published.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Top 5 leading causes of death of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females who died in 2022: 

  • Four of the 5 leading causes of death for males were the same compared to females. They were Ischaemic heart disease, Diabetes, Lung cancer and Chronic lower respiratory diseases.
  • Suicide was the second leading cause of death for males in 2022, compared to 10th for females. 
  • Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease was the fifth leading cause of death for females and the 12th leading cause for males.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died between 2013 and 2022: 

  • The 5 leading causes of death (Ischaemic heart diseases, Diabetes, Chronic lower respiratory diseases, Lung cancer and Suicide) accounted for over one-third of all deaths. 
  • The 5 leading causes of death have remained the same between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022. 
  • Overall, the age-standardised rate increased by 8.6% between these two 5-year periods.
  • The rate decreased for Diabetes by 4.7%, the second leading cause of death, between the two 5-year periods. It was the only cause in the top 5 leading causes to decrease.
  • Suicide remains the fifth leading cause of death in 2022. The rate increased by 17.9% from 2013-2017 to 2018-2022. 

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022:

  • For females, there were two causes in the top 5 leading causes where the age-standardised death rate decreased over the period. They were Diabetes (8.2% decrease) and Ischaemic heart disease (0.7% decrease).
  • For females, the largest increase in the top 5 leading causes was for Dementia, including Alzheimer's (37.6% increase).
  • For males, all top 5 leading causes of death had a rate increase over the period. The largest increases were for Suicide (16.9% increase) and Lung cancer (14.8%).
Top 5 leading causes of death, crude death rates, age-standardised death rates, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)
 2013201720222013-20172018-2022
Cause of death and ICD codeNo.Crude rate(e)SDR(f)No.Crude rate(e)SDR(f)No.Crude rate(e)SDR(f)SDR(f)SDR(f)
Persons           
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)

322

48.6

117.6

352

49.1

108.4

537

68.1

134.9

119.4

119.9

Diabetes mellitus (E10-E14)

202

30.5

83.9

236

32.9

79.9

329

41.7

85.9

81.0

77.2

Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)

148

22.3

60.4

206

28.7

77.2

293

37.1

80.6

72.8

80.1

Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (lung cancer) (C33, C34)

140

21.1

51.6

184

25.6

55.7

271

34.4

71.0

55.1

63.8

Intentional self-harm (X60-X84, Y87.0)

139

21.0

22.5

165

23.0

24.2

212

26.9

29.9

23.4

27.6

All causes

2,639

398.3

922.3

2,988

416.4

902.6

4,587

581.5

1,130.5

919.0

998.3

Males           
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)

204

61.8

147.7

213

59.5

133.1

318

80.7

166.4

155.0

156.7

Intentional self-harm (X60-X84, Y87.0)

100

30.3

33.3

125

34.9

37.6

160

40.6

46.3

35.5

41.5

Diabetes mellitus (E10-E14)

81

24.5

70.5

98

27.4

72.8

144

36.5

79.0

75.5

75.9

Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (lung cancer) (C33, C34)

64

19.4

44.4

101

28.2

68.6

137

34.8

75.2

64.9

74.5

Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)

85

25.8

83.8

100

27.9

83.0

134

34.0

77.2

84.2

85.4

All causes

1,432

433.9

1,031.0

1,631

455.3

1,016.7

2,467

626.1

1,245.1

1,033.3

1,118.0

Females           
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)

118

35.5

91.4

139

38.7

86.5

219

55.5

107.7

89.5

88.9

Diabetes mellitus (E10-E14)

121

36.4

93.8

138

38.4

85.3

185

46.9

91.1

85.0

78.0

Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)

63

18.9

43.3

106

29.5

72.7

159

40.3

82.9

64.5

75.9

Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (lung cancer) (C33, C34)

76

22.8

56.4

83

23.1

45.5

134

33.9

67.1

47.3

55.2

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)

34

10.2

41.6

63

17.5

63.9

95

24.1

70.9

50.8

69.9

All causes

1,207

362.9

827.1

1,357

377.6

801.8

2,120

537.0

1,025.8

819.4

891.7

  1. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years are preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  4. The 2022 increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths is influenced by the use of information from the MCCD for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  5. Crude death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  6. Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  7. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census. These rates may differ from those previously published.
  8. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  9. Intentional self-harm include ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  10. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  11. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by Indigenous status

Mortality data can provide important insights into population health concerns relevant to different groups within the Australian population. Patterns of death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people differ to those of non-Indigenous people. Mortality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are generally higher than those for non-Indigenous people. In 2022, the all-cause mortality rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was double that of non-Indigenous people. 

The median age at death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 62.9 years and 82.4 years for non-Indigenous people, which is a difference of just under 20 years. Ten years ago the difference was 24.2 years when the median age at death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 57.5 years and 81.7 years for non-Indigenous people. The graph below shows median age of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people since 1997.

  1. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years are preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  4. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Among the top 20 leading causes of death in 2022:

  • Age-standardised death rates are higher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for all 20 leading causes of death.
  • The top four leading causes of death also had the four largest rate differences.
  • The largest rate ratio is for deaths due to Diabetes, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a rate over 5 times higher than that of non-Indigenous people.
  • The second highest rate ratio is for deaths due to Accidental drug-induced deaths, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a rate 4 times higher than that of non-Indigenous people.
  • For deaths due to COVID-19, the mortality rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 41.2 per 100,000 people and for non-Indigenous people it was 26.8.
  • The closest ratios were for Dementia, including Alzheimer's and Blood and lymph cancers (both 1.2), and next closest was Accidental falls (1.4).
Top 20 leading causes of death, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)(l)
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopleNon-IndigenousRate ratio(f)(h) Rate difference(g)(h)
Cause of Death and ICD CodeNo.SDR(d)(e)No.SDR(d)(e)

Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)

537

134.9

12,803

53.9

2.5

81.0

Diabetes (E10-E14)

329

85.9

3,944

16.5

5.2

69.3

Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)

293

80.6

5,816

24.1

3.3

56.5

Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)

271

71.0

6,195

26.0

2.7

45.0

Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)

212

29.9

2,117

11.7

2.6

18.2

Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)

155

43.3

6,926

28.9

1.5

14.4

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)

150

63.7

12,425

51.1

1.2

12.6

Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions (R00-R99)

136

23.5

2,698

12.3

1.9

11.2

COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)

135

41.2

6,433

26.8

1.5

14.4

Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver (K70-K76)

132

25.3

1,723

8.0

3.2

17.3

Land transport accidents (V01-V89, Y85)

122

17.3

836

4.5

3.8

12.8

Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)

108

34.0

2,947

12.2

2.8

21.8

Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)

94

25.1

3,688

15.9

1.6

9.2

Accidental poisoning (X40-X49)

94

15.9

686

3.9

4.0

12.0

Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)

76

18.5

1,588

6.8

2.7

11.8

Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)

76

18.3

2,569

10.8

1.7

7.5

Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)

72

17.8

3,531

14.9

1.2

2.9

Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96)

69

5.2

302

2.0

2.5

3.1

Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)

67

18.4

1,766

7.4

2.5

11.0

Accidental falls (W00-W19)

46

13.4

2,314

9.6

1.4

3.8

All causes

4,587

1130.5

130,280

556.4

2.0

574.2

  1. Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes.
  2. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  3. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  4. Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  5. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census. These rates may differ from those previously published.
  6. Rate ratio is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death rate divided by the non-Indigenous rate.
  7. Rate difference is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death rate less the non-Indigenous rate.
  8. Rate ratio and rate difference is calculated on unrounded data.
  9. Intentional self-harm include ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  10. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  11. Land transport accidents includes ICD-10 codes V01-V89 and Y85.
  12. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Deaths due to COVID-19 in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are at heightened risk of more severe outcomes from COVID-19. There are several reasons for this, including higher rates of socioeconomic disadvantage, higher rates of chronic diseases and limited access to culturally safe health care.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 by state are listed in the table below.

In 2022:

  • All jurisdictions recorded deaths due to COVID-19.
  • Most deaths due to COVID-19 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were in NSW and QLD.
  • More females died of COVID-19 than males in all jurisdictions, except Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory (0 deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females in these two jurisdictions).
  • Females had a higher mortality rate than males across all jurisdictions (where a mortality rate was able to be calculated).
  • Northern Territory had the highest mortality rate for COVID-19.
  • Western Australia had the lowest mortality rate for COVID-19.
COVID-19 deaths, Crude rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, all jurisdictions by sex, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
 MalesFemalesPersons
 No.Crude rate(c)No.Crude rate(c)No.Crude rate(c)

NSW

23

15.5

27

18.1

50

16.8

Vic.

6

np

8

np

14

np

Qld

22

17.5

23

18.1

45

17.8

SA

np

np

np

np

8

16.9

WA

5

8.9

10

17.9

15

13.4

Tas.

4

np

0

np

1

np

NT

8

19.9

9

23.2

17

21.5

ACT

3

np

0

np

3

np

Australia

72

np

83

np

155

np

np not available for publication

  1. COVID-19 deaths include ICD-10 codes: U07.1, U07.2, U10.9.
  2. Includes only deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death.
  3. Crude death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  4. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census. These rates may differ from those previously published.
  5. Crude death rates based on small numbers are volatile and unreliable. Rates based on a very low death count have not been published and appear as 'np'. 
  6. Refer to the methodology for more information.

COVID-19 by Indigenous status by 5 jurisdictions: NSW, Qld, WA, SA, NT

  • The median age of deaths due to COVID-19 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 71.3 years and 86.0 years for non-Indigenous people. For both populations, the median age at death from COVID-19 was higher than the median age for all-cause mortality in 2022 (62.9 and 82.4).
  • It was the 9th leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to 4th for non-Indigenous people in these 5 jurisdictions.
  • Compared to non-Indigenous people, a higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died with COVID-19 as a contributing factor to their death (ie. when COVID-19 was certified on the death certificate but it was not the underlying cause of death).
Median age of death from COVID-19, number of deaths due to COVID-19, and number of deaths associated with COVID-19 by Indigenous status, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopleNon-Indigenous people
 No.% of total COVID-19 deathsNo.% of total COVID-19 deaths

Median age of death from COVID-19

71.3..86.0..

Deaths from COVID-19 (b)

135

60.5

6,433

75.8

Deaths with COVID-19 (c)

88

39.5

2,059

24.2

  1. COVID-19 deaths include ICD-10 codes: U07.1, U07.2, U10.9.
  2. Deaths from COVID-19 refers to deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death.
  3. Deaths with COVID-19 refers to deaths where COVID-19 was a contributing factor but not the underlying cause of death.
  4. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

For deaths due to COVID-19:

  • There were 135 deaths due to COVID-19 of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to 6,433 deaths of non-Indigenous people.
  • Influenza and pneumonia was the most common cause grouping reported with COVID-19 for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people. Pneumonia is a common complication of COVID-19.
  • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people these deaths were more likely to be reported with diabetes and urinary diseases as contributing co-morbidities than non-Indigenous people (11.0% and 10.1% respectively).
  • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, these deaths were less likely to be reported with dementia than non-Indigenous people (7.9% less deaths with dementia).
Associated causes for COVID-19 deaths, number of deaths by selected associated causes and Indigenous status, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopleNon-Indigenous people
 No.%No.%
Underlying cause of death COVID-19 (U07.1, U07.2, U10.9)135..6,433..

Reported with:

    

Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)

60

44.4

2,804

43.6

Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)

39

28.9

1,212

18.8

Diabetes mellitus (E10-E14)

33

24.4

864

13.4

Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)

29

21.5

1,018

15.8

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)

24

17.8

1,656

25.7

Heart failure and complications and ill-defined descriptions of heart disease (I50-I51)

22

16.3

730

17.2

Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)

22

16.3

1,107

11.3

Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)

20

14.8

992

15.4

Malignant neoplasms (C00-C97, D45-D46, D47.1, D47.3-D47.5)

15

11.1

914

14.2

Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49)

13

9.6

670

10.4

  1. COVID-19 deaths include ICD-10 codes: U07.1, U07.2, U10.9.
  2. Includes only deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death.
  3. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  4. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Intentional self-harm deaths (Suicide) in Australia

Support services, 24 hours, 7 days

For further information see Crisis support services.

The ABS uses, and supports the use of, the Mindframe guidelines on responsible, accurate and safe reporting on suicide, mental ill-health and alcohol and other drugs. The ABS recommends referring to these guidelines when reporting on statistics in this report.

In 2022:

  • 3,249 people died by suicide.
  • The crude death rate for deaths due to suicide was 12.5 per 100,000 people.
  • The age-standardised suicide rate was 12.3 per 100,000 people.
  • Suicide was the 15th leading cause of death.

Administrative factors

Deaths (such as those from suicide) that are referred to a coroner can take time to be fully investigated, which can influence what information is available to assign a cause of death code during the ABS coding process. Each year, some coroner cases are coded by the ABS before the coronial proceedings are finalised. This can impact on data quality as less specific ICD-10 codes often need to be applied. At the time of coding 2022 data, there was a higher proportion of coroner cases coded to 'other ill-defined and unspecified causes of mortality' (R99) at preliminary coding than seen in previous years (10.71% in 2022 versus a 5-year average for 2017-2021 of 7.63%).

Deaths due to other ill-defined and unspecified causes of mortality (R99) are in scope for revision and it is expected that deaths due to intentional self-harm will increase through the revisions process. For further information surrounding the revisions process, see Coding of suicide in the Deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide) section in the Methodology of this publication.

Suicide by sex 

In order to measure changes over time, age-standardised suicide rates for males, females and all persons are presented in the graph below. Upper and lower bounds (confidence intervals) are included to show the potential variability of the annual suicide rates and can be used in measuring statistical significance of the annual rate change.

For males in 2022:

  • There were 2,455 deaths due to suicide.
  • Suicide was the 11th leading cause of death.
  • The median age at death for those who died by suicide was 46.0 years. 
  • Over three-quarters (75.6%) of people who died by suicide were male.
  • The suicide rate for males increased by 2.6% from 2021.

For females in 2022:

  • There were 794 deaths due to suicide.
  • Suicide was the 26th leading cause of death. 
  • The median age at death for those who died by suicide was 44.1 years. 
  • The suicide rate for females decreased by 2.3% from 2021.
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide by state and territory of usual residence

In 2022:

  • Three-quarters of people who died by suicide had a usual residence in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
  • Those living in the Northern Territory had the highest suicide rate at 20.5 per 100,000 people. 

Between 2021 and 2022:

  • The suicide rate decreased in Queensland, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.
  • The suicide rate increased in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Number of suicide deaths by state or territory of usual residence, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
 2013201420152016201720182019202020212022
NSW718832839822929940963910894911
Vic.552672686667713691735693675754
Qld676658761688816805803782786773
SA203244233221226209250229229242
WA336367402373418384416385390377
Tas.746984937978107898187
NT33564846514750514649
ACT37384628595053576555
Australia2,6292,9373,1002,9393,2923,2053,3773,1963,1663,249
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  3. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  4. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  5. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  6. Refer to the methodology for more information.

 

Age-standardised suicide rates by state or territory of usual residence, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 2013201420152016201720182019202020212022
NSW9.510.810.910.511.611.611.811.010.810.8
Vic.9.211.111.210.511.110.611.110.210.111.1
Qld14.614.016.014.216.616.215.815.214.914.4
SA11.914.513.213.012.911.813.812.812.413.3
WA13.514.515.614.516.114.515.614.214.013.4
Tas.14.212.816.217.115.114.218.815.613.614.3
NT14.221.820.319.220.219.520.820.218.520.5
ACT9.69.811.47.214.211.612.112.613.911.7
Australia11.212.312.912.013.212.713.212.312.112.3
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide by age

Understanding how suicide manifests across key demographics is important in helping to target policies and prevention activities. The graph below shows the age distribution for those who died by suicide and the proportion of those deaths that occurred within each age cohort.

In 2022:

  • Young and middle-aged people were more likely to die by suicide than those in older age cohorts.
  • 81.7 percent of people who died by suicide were aged under 65 years.
  • People who died by suicide had a median age of 45.6 years compared to 82.2 years for all deaths.
  • The proportional distribution of those aged under 25 who died by suicide differed for males and females:
    • For females, 15.5% of suicides occurred in those aged under 25 years.
    • For males 10.5% of suicides occurred in those aged under 25.
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  3. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  4. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  5. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide of males: age-specific death rates

Age-specific death rates show how suicide manifests across age cohorts by relating the number of deaths to the size and structure of the underlying population.

In 2022, males aged over 85 years:

  • Had the highest age-specific suicide rate (32.7 per 100,000). 
  • Accounted for 2.9% of suicides of males.

In 2022, males aged between 45-49 years: 

  • Had the highest age-specific suicide rate of those aged under 85 years (32.6 per 100,000).
  • Accounted for the largest proportion deaths due to suicide (10.7%).

Between 2021 and 2022:

  • Males aged between 45-49 years had the largest increase in their age-specific suicide rate (up 9.4 deaths per 100,000).
  • Males aged between 80-84 years had the largest decrease in their age-specific suicide rate (down 9.4 deaths per 100,000).
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  5. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  6. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide of females: age-specific death rates

Age-specific death rates show how suicide manifests across age cohorts by relating the number of deaths to the size and structure of the underlying population.

In 2022, females aged over 85 years:

  • Had the highest age-specific suicide rate for the first time since the beginning of the ABS mortality data time series (starts in 1968) with a rate of 10.6 deaths per 100,000 females. 
  • Accounted for 4.4% of suicides of females.

In 2022, females aged under 50 years: 

  • Those aged between 45-49 years had the highest age-specific suicide rate of females aged under 85 years (8.8 deaths per 100,000).
  • The highest proportion of suicide occurred in those aged between 25-29 years (9.4%).  

Between 2021 and 2022:

  • Females aged between 70-74 years had the largest increase in their age-specific suicide rate (up 1.7 deaths per 100,000).
  • Females aged between 40-44 years had the largest decrease in their age-specific suicide rate (down 1.6 deaths per 100,000).
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  5. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  6. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide and premature mortality

Years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a measure of 'premature' mortality, which weights age at death to gain an estimate of how many years a person would have lived had they not died prematurely. YPLL aids in assessing the significance of specific diseases or trauma as a cause of premature death. For this analysis, any death between the ages of 1-78 years inclusive is considered to be a premature death. See Mortality tabulations and methodologies in the methodology for further information.

Suicide accounted for the highest number of years of potential life lost among leading cause groups of conditions for both males and females. This is due to the high proportion of suicides that occur within younger age groups. Conditions such as coronary heart disease account for more premature deaths than suicide, but less years of potential life lost.

In 2022:

  • Suicide was the leading cause of death for those aged between 15-44 years. 
  • Suicide was the leading cause of premature mortality with 108,762 years of life lost.
  • A person who died by suicide lost on average 35.6 years of life. 

For males who died in 2022:

  • Suicide was the leading cause of premature mortality with 80,958 years of life lost.
  • Those who died by suicide lost on average 34.9 years of life.

For females who died in 2022:

  • Suicide was the leading cause of premature mortality with 27,893 years of life lost.
  • Those who died by suicide lost on average 37.7 years of life.

Suicide of children

Deaths of children by suicide is an extremely sensitive issue. The number of deaths of children attributed to suicide can be influenced by coronial reporting practices. Reporting practices may lead to differences in counts across jurisdictions and this should be considered when interpreting tabulations and analysis of suicide deaths in children presented below. For more information on issues associated with the compilation and interpretation of suicide data, see Deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide) section of the methodology in this publication. For the purposes of the following analysis, children are defined as those aged between 5 and 17 years of age. The ABS are not aware of any recorded suicides of children under the age of 5 years. The tabulation below shows the number and age-specific death rate for children who died by suicide over the last 5 years.

In 2022: 

  • There were 77 children who died by suicide. This is the lowest number of suicides of children in the 5 year time series presented.  
  • Suicide accounted for 15.5% of child deaths.
  • Suicide was the second leading cause of child death in Australia, after land transport accidents. This is a reduction from previous years- Suicide has been the leading cause of death in children since 2013.  
  • Males had a suicide rate of 2.2 per 100,000 children (47 deaths).
  • Females had a suicide rate of 1.5 per 100,000 children (30 deaths).
  • Over 80% of children who died by suicide were aged 15-17 years (64 deaths).
  • The suicide rate in Queensland decreased by 54.3% in 2022. Queensland and was the largest contributor to the overall decrease in suicides of children between 2021 and 2022.
Suicide of children aged 5-17 years, 2018-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 20182019202020212022
No.Rate(b)No.Rate(b)No.Rate(b)No.Rate(b)No.Rate(b)
MalesSuicide643.1643.1622.9633.0472.2
All causes26813.126812.928613.631814.930714.3
FemalesSuicide392.0341.7381.9492.4301.5
All causes1889.71839.31768.81929.61909.4
PersonsSuicide1032.6982.41002.41122.7771.8
All causes45611.445111.246211.351012.349711.9
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide of children: Sex ratio

  • The sex ratio for children aged 5-17 years was 1.6 males per female death. This compared to a sex ratio of 3.1 for people of all ages who died by suicide.
  • The sex ratio for children has remained consistent over the last 10 years.
Sex ratios for suicide of children (5-17 years) and suicide of all persons, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 5-17 yearsAll ages
20131.72.9
20141.33.1
20151.23.1
20162.32.9
20171.92.9
20181.63.2
20191.93.1
20201.63.1
20211.33.0
20221.63.1
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Sex ratios for suicide, defined as the number of male suicides per female suicide.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide by country of birth

People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CaLD) may have unique experiences in relation to mental health and suicide, including cultural and family views and how health services are accessed. Death registrations do not directly collect information on whether a person was part of a CaLD community. Data items from the death registration which can provide some indication of cultural and linguistic diversity are country of birth and years of residence in Australia. While these two variables do not provide complete information on suicide for people of CaLD backgrounds, they do provide some additional insights into suicide in Australia.

Four new data tables containing suicide data by country of birth have been added to this publication. These tables have been included in Data Cube 11 (Tables 11.22-11.25).

Suicide by region of birth

For the 5-year period 2018 to 2022:

  • Those who were born in Australia had a suicide rate of 14.7 deaths per 100,000 people, which was the highest suicide rate by region of birth and 79.3% higher than the suicide rate for those born overseas (8.2 per 100,000).

For those born overseas:

  • Those with a country of birth in the Oceania and Antarctic region (excluding Australia) had the highest suicide rate, at 14.2 per 100,000 people.
  • Those with a country of birth in Southern and Central Asia had the lowest suicide rate, at 4.2 per 100,000 people. Those born in this region also had the lowest median age at death at 34.5 years.
  • South-East Asia and Southern and Central Asia were the only two country of birth regions with a lower median age at death due to suicide than those born in Australia.
Intentional self-harm, Age-standardised death rates and median age at death by Country of birth region, 2018-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)
Country of birth region (g)No.Rate(b)Median age at deathMedian age of population
Australia12,32714.742.834.1
Overseas3,7918.251.544.1
Oceania and Antarctica60514.243.044.9
North-West Europe1,25112.159.457.7
 United Kingdom and Ireland99112.358.157.2
 Other North-West Europe26011.069.761.1
Southern and Eastern Europe4789.368.266.0
 Southern Europe1447.873.270.7
 South Eastern Europe2079.266.265.3
 Eastern Europe12711.864.554.2
North Africa and the Middle East1425.044.342.0
South-East Asia2854.641.941.8
North-East Asia3195.844.338.0
Southern and Central Asia2884.234.534.1
Americas1728.247.039.1
Sub-Saharan Africa25110.642.941.8
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration.
  7. Country of birth uses the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC).
  8. Deaths without a recorded country of birth are excluded from this table.
  9. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide by country of birth

The graph below shows the age-standardised suicide rate for the 20 most common countries of birth for those who died by suicide in Australia in 2018-2022.

For the 5-year period 2018 to 2022:

  • Excluding Australia, England was the most common country of birth for those who died by suicide (757 deaths). When adjusted for population size and age-structure, those with a country of birth in England did not have the highest suicide rate of those born overseas. 
  • Those born in Croatia, New Zealand and Scotland had a higher suicide rate than those born in Australia.
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  3. SDRs based on small numbers are volatile and unreliable. SDRs based on less than 20 deaths have not been published.
  4. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  5. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  6. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  7. Data is by date of registration.
  8. Country of birth uses the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC).
  9. Deaths without a recorded country of birth are excluded.
  10. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Risk factors for intentional self-harm deaths (Suicide) in Australia

Support services, 24 hours, 7 days

For further information see Crisis support services.

Circumstances relating to a suicide are complex and multifaceted. Often, it is the combination of multiple factors rather than a single reason that contribute to a person dying by suicide. Risk factors should not be considered in isolation.

The ABS codes causes of death from information contained on the National Coronial Information System (NCIS), including police, pathology, toxicology and coroners reports. These reports provide a breadth of information relating to these deaths, much of which is highly important from a public health perspective. As part of the investigative process for a suicide, risk factors are often mentioned in these reports. For suicide, a risk factor could be one of many factors including mental health conditions, lifestyle factors, or chronic diseases that can interact and increase the "risk" of suicide. While a risk factor may have been present in the life of a person who died by suicide it may not have been a direct cause. Risk factors provide important insights that can help guide prevention and intervention activities.

The risk factors mentioned in the reports on the NCIS are captured as part of the ABS coding process and assigned codes within the framework of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. The capture of information on associated causes of death is reliant on the documentation available for any given death. This in turn can be affected by the length of the coronial process, the type of information available across different jurisdictions and administrative processes affecting report availability. As such, the information presented in this section reflects information contained within reports available on NCIS at the time of coding and does not necessarily reflect all causes associated with all suicides that have occurred. Risk factors are included and made available as part of the associated causes in the national mortality dataset.

In 2022: 

  • 85.8% of people who died by suicide had at least one risk factor reported at the time of preliminary coding. This proportion is likely to increase as coronial investigations are finalised.
  • Psychosocial risk factors were the most commonly reported risk factor, present in 68.3% of deaths of people who died by suicide. 
  • People who died by suicide had an average of 3 to 4 risk factors mentioned.
Risk factor prevalence in suicide deaths, 2018-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)
 20182019202020212022
 No.%No.%No.%No.%No.%
Total suicides3,205100.03,377100.03,196100.03,166100.03,249100.0
Total suicides with reported psychosocial risk factor/s (a)2,34973.32,45872.82,33673.12,05865.02,22068.3
Total suicides with reported mental and behavioural disorder/s (b)2,25570.42,35669.82,23269.81,99062.92,04162.8
Total suicides with reported natural disease/s (c)1,86758.32,02860.11,91059.81,73454.81,72353.0
Total suicides with any risk factor reported (d)2,97092.73,14893.22,99293.62,76387.32,78985.8
  1. Psychosocial risk factors include ICD-10 codes Z00-Z99.
  2. Mental and behavioural disorders include ICD-10 codes F00-F99.
  3. Natural diseases include all disease and health related conditions with the exclusion of mental and behavioural disorders, injuries, external causes and some terminal conditions (G93, I46, I49, J96). Includes ICD-10 codes A00-E90, G00-R99, U07.1-U07.2, U08-U10.9.
  4. Includes psychosocial risk factors, mental and behavioural disorders, natural diseases and external causes with the exclusion of intentional self-harm (ICD-10 codes V01-Y98 excl. X60-X84, Y87.0).
  5. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  6. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  7. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  8. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  9. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide risk factors by age

The types of risk factors experienced by a person can vary across their life. Risk factors more commonly seen in persons in older age groups, such as pain and limitation of activities due to chronic health conditions, are not as common in younger age groups. Similarly, problems related to employment and unemployment are most common in those included in the working age population (defined as 15-64 years). 

In 2022:

  • Mood disorders (including depression) were the most common risk factor to be mentioned in all age groups except those aged 85 years and over.
  • Limitation of activities due to illness and disability continues to be the most common risk factor for those aged 85 years and over.
  • Suicide ideation was mentioned as a risk factor in at least one fifth of suicide deaths across all age groups. Suicide ideation can include thoughts or contemplation of suicide, and both direct and indirect discussions or comments surrounding a person’s intention or wish to end their life.
  • Those aged under 45 years were most likely to have issues with psychoactive substance use (both acute use and intoxication, as well as chronic use) mentioned as a risk factor.
  • Those aged 65 years and over were most likely to have chronic health conditions and pain mentioned as a risk factor.
  • Factors relating to employment and unemployment were most commonly mentioned as a risk factor in those aged 45-64 years.

Acute alcohol use was recorded as a factor in 16.1% of suicides, and directly contributed to death in a further 2.0% (i.e., deaths due to intentional alcohol toxicity or mixed drug and alcohol toxicity (X60-X65)). Acute alcohol use can affect a death due to suicide in a number of ways including causing respiratory depression (especially when used in combination with other drugs) or affecting judgement and decision-making processes.

In 2022:

  • Those aged between 25-44 years were the most likely age group to have acute alcohol use and intoxication mentioned as a risk factor (present in 19.6% of suicides in this age group).
  • Those aged between 45-64 years were the most likely age group to have chronic alcohol abuse disorders mentioned as a risk factor (present in 15.4% of suicides in this age group).


Psychoactive substance use was recorded as a factor in 14.2% of suicides, and directly contributed to death in a further 12.3% (i.e., deaths due to intentional drug toxicity or mixed drug and alcohol toxicity (X60-X65)). Similar to alcohol, acute use of psychoactive substances can affect a death due to suicide in a number of ways, including by impairing cognition, perception or moods, or by causing toxicity.

In 2022:

  • Those aged between 25-44 years were the most likely age group to have issues with psychoactive substance use (both acute use and intoxication as well as chronic use) mentioned as a risk factor (present in 19.2% and 19.5% of suicides in this age group, respectively).
  • For those aged under 25 years, acute and chronic psychoactive substance use were both more common risk factors than acute or chronic alcohol use.
Top risk factors by age, proportion of total suicides per age group, Persons, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 5-24 years25-44 years45-64 years65-84 years85 years and overAll ages
 %%%%%%
Mood [affective] disorders (F30-F39)31.237.441.134.023.636.9
 Depressive episode (F32)29.434.639.232.623.634.9
Suicide ideation (R45.8)27.626.125.423.824.525.7
Problems in spousal relationship circumstances (Z63.0, Z63.5)25.534.623.59.8np25.1
Personal history of self-harm (Z91.5)29.125.118.615.210.421.5
Anxiety and stress related disorders (Z73.3, F40-F48 excl. F41.8, F45.4)15.219.718.314.55.717.5
 Other anxiety disorders (F41)13.115.515.112.15.714.3
Acute alcohol use and intoxication (F10.0, R78.0, [T51 excl. UCOD X60-X65])16.019.617.37.4np16.1
Acute psychoactive substance use and intoxication (F1[1-6,8-9].0, R78.1-R78.9, [T36-T50 excl. UCOD X60-X65])18.619.213.03.14.714.2
Chronic psychoactive substance abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)17.819.510.92.013.2
 Cannabinoid use disorders (F12.1-F12.9)12.36.33.0np4.8
 Stimulant use disorders (F15.1-F15.9)5.08.13.3np4.7
 Other and unspecified drug use disorders (F19.1-F19.9)2.96.33.7np4.0
Chronic alcohol abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)7.614.615.47.4np12.5
 Harmful use of alcohol (F10.1)5.59.67.84.17.4
 Alcohol dependence syndrome (F10.2)np3.25.31.8np3.3
Problems in relationships with family and friends (Z63.1-Z63.3, Z63.6-Z63.9)14.412.113.210.59.412.4
Problems related to legal circumstances (Z65.0-Z65.4)9.215.411.97.0np11.8
Problems related to employment and unemployment (Z56)8.112.214.43.910.8
Death of a family member or person in primary support network (Z63.4, Z81.8)6.86.110.013.523.69.1
Limitation of activities due to disability (Z73.6)np1.36.926.440.68.2
Unspecified mental disorder (F99)11.08.06.63.5np7.0
Pain (see Methodology for tabulation)1.84.57.714.111.36.9
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)0.72.98.618.93.1
Malignant neoplasms (C00-C97, D45-D46, D471, D47.3-D47.5)npnp2.612.38.53.1
Musculoskeletal disorders (M00-M99 excl. codes in pain and chronic drug use categories)np1.23.17.49.43.0
Problems related to care-provider dependency (Z74)0.41.14.516.01.7

np not available for publication
—  nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. This table includes the top 10 risk factors captured for each age group, combined into one list.
  3. Data in this table indicates the percentage of deaths with each specified risk factor recorded. Risk factors may not be mutually exclusive, and therefore people with multiple psychosocial factors recorded will be counted in more than one category.
  4. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide risk factors for males

In 2022 for males who died by suicide: 

  • Mood disorders (including depression) were the most common risk factor to be mentioned overall, as well as for those aged 5-24, 45-64 and 65-84 years.
  • The top risk factor for males aged 25-44 years was problems in spousal relationships circumstances, present in over one-third of suicides. Problems in spousal relationships overtook mood disorders as the top risk factor in this age group for the first time and can include separation and divorce as well as arguments and domestic violence situations.
  • There was overall a higher proportion of acute substance abuse disorders than chronic substance abuse disorders identified.
  • Males aged 25-44 years were the most likely age group to have substance abuse mentioned as a risk factor, including:
    • Acute psychoactive substance use and intoxication (20.6%)
    • Chronic psychoactive substance abuse disorders (20.0%)
    • Acute alcohol use and intoxication (19.5%)
    • Chronic alcohol abuse disorders (14.8%).
Top risk factors by age, proportion of total suicides per age group, Males, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 5-24 years25-44 years45-64 years65-84 years85 years and overAll ages
 %%%%%%
Mood [affective] disorders (F30-F39)29.135.938.131.821.134.9
 Depressive episode (F32)27.533.236.530.821.133.0
Problems in spousal relationship circumstances (Z63.0, Z63.5)26.036.125.810.8np26.6
Suicide ideation (R45.8)24.826.224.920.323.924.6
Personal history of self-harm (Z91.5)23.321.215.111.67.017.4
Acute alcohol use and intoxication (F10.0, R78.0, [T51 excl. UCOD X60-X65])18.619.518.78.4np17.0
Anxiety and stress related disorders (Z73.3, F40-F48 excl. F41.8, F45.4)12.016.616.514.7np15.4
 Other anxiety disorders (F41)9.712.913.912.1np12.5
Acute psychoactive substance use and intoxication (F1[1-6,8-9].0, R78.1-R78.9, [T36-T50 excl. UCOD X60-X65])19.420.613.43.2np14.9
Problems related to legal circumstances (Z65.0-Z65.4)9.717.214.27.6np13.5
Chronic psychoactive substance abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)18.620.010.62.113.3
 Cannabinoid use disorders (F12.1-F12.9)12.46.63.5np5.0
 Stimulant use disorders (F15.1-F15.9)5.88.42.9np4.8
 Other and unspecified drug use disorders (F19.1-F19.9)2.76.73.5np4.0
Chronic alcohol abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)8.914.814.77.9np12.7
 Harmful use of alcohol (F10.1)5.89.77.64.27.5
 Alcohol dependence syndrome (F10.2)np2.95.12.4np3.3
Problems related to employment and unemployment (Z56)9.712.916.14.712.0
Problems in relationships with family and friends (Z63.1-Z63.3, Z63.6-Z63.9)14.010.611.48.911.311.0
Death of a family member or person in primary support network (Z63.4, Z81.8)7.45.69.610.822.58.4
Limitation of activities due to disability (Z73.6)np1.16.125.336.67.6
Unspecified mental disorder (F99)10.56.96.12.6np6.2
Pain (see Methodology for tabulation)np3.57.112.99.96.1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)0.93.38.422.53.4
Diabetes mellitus (E10-E14)np1.03.39.212.73.3
Malignant neoplasms (C00-C97, D45-D46, D471, D47.3-D47.5)npnp2.713.47.03.3
Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)np1.66.19.91.9
Problems related to care-provider dependency (Z74)np0.83.911.31.3

np not available for publication
—  nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. This table includes the top 10 risk factors captured for each age group, combined into one list.
  3. Data in this table indicates the percentage of deaths with each specified risk factor recorded. Risk factors may not be mutually exclusive, and therefore people with multiple psychosocial factors recorded will be counted in more than one category.
  4. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide risk factors for females

In 2022 for females who died by suicide:

  • Mood disorders (including depression) were the most common risk factor, being captured as a risk factor in over 40% of all female suicides, and over 50% of suicides of females aged 45-64 years.
  • Personal history of self-harm was the most common risk factor for those aged under 25 years.
  • Suicide ideation was mentioned as a risk factor in over one quarter of suicides in every age group.
  • Overall, substance abuse was less commonly mentioned as a suicide risk factor for females than for males.
  • Acute psychoactive substance use was the most common form of substance abuse for those aged 5-24 years.
  • For all other age groups, the most common form of substance abuse was either acute or chronic alcohol use.
Top risk factors by age, proportion of total suicides per age group, Females, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 5-24 years25-44 years45-64 years65-84 years85 years and overAll ages
 %%%%%%
Mood [affective] disorders (F30-F39)35.842.151.441.728.643.3
 Depressive episode (F32)33.339.348.638.928.640.7
Personal history of self-harm (Z91.5)41.537.930.927.817.134.0
Suicide ideation (R45.8)33.326.027.236.125.728.8
Anxiety and stress related disorders (Z73.3, F40-F48 excl. F41.8, F45.4)22.029.824.313.9np23.9
 Other anxiety disorders (F41)20.323.919.312.0np19.8
Problems in spousal relationship circumstances (Z63.0, Z63.5)24.429.815.66.520.2
Problems in relationships with family and friends (Z63.1-Z63.3, Z63.6-Z63.9)15.416.819.315.7np16.8
Acute alcohol use and intoxication (F10.0, R78.0, [T51 excl. UCOD X60-X65])10.619.612.8np13.1
Chronic psychoactive substance abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)16.317.911.9np12.8
 Stimulant use disorders (F15.1-F15.9)np7.04.5np4.5
 Cannabinoid use disorders (F12.1-F12.9)12.25.6np4.3
 Other and unspecified drug use disorders (F19.1-F19.9)np5.34.53.8
Acute psychoactive substance use and intoxication (F1[1-6,8-9].0, R78.1-R78.9, [T36-T50 excl. UCOD X60-X65])17.114.711.9npnp12.1
Chronic alcohol abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)4.913.717.75.611.8
 Harmful use of alcohol (F10.1)4.99.18.6np7.2
 Alcohol dependence syndrome (F10.2)3.96.23.3
Death of a family member or person in primary support network (Z63.4, Z81.8)5.77.711.123.125.711.3
Limitation of activities due to disability (Z73.6)np2.19.530.648.610.1
Pain (see Methodology for tabulation)4.17.79.918.514.39.6
Unspecified mental disorder (F99)12.211.68.26.5np9.6
Problems related to employment and unemployment (Z56)4.99.88.2np6.9
Musculoskeletal disorders (M00-M99 excl. codes in pain and chronic drug use categories)np2.84.114.820.05.3
Problems related to care-provider dependency (Z74)np2.16.525.73.0
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)np9.3np2.3

np not available for publication
—  nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. This table includes the top 10 risk factors captured for each age group, combined into one list.
  3. Data in this table indicates the percentage of deaths with each specified risk factor recorded. Risk factors may not be mutually exclusive, and therefore people with multiple psychosocial factors recorded will be counted in more than one category.
  4. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

 

Suicide risk factor by year

Psychosocial risk factors have been coded by the ABS since 2017. The addition of psychosocial factors to the national mortality dataset added to information on risk factors that were already captured such as mental health disorders and chronic diseases. As many coronial investigations in 2017, 2018 and 2019 are now closed, data for those years are considered "final" (see Revisions process in the methodology for more information). Information on risk factors across the past 5 years is presented below.

For suicides across 2018-2022:

  • Mood disorders were the most common risk factor for each year. 
  • Suicide ideation has been the second most common risk factor since 2020.
  • Acute alcohol use and intoxication was more common than acute psychoactive substance use in 2021 and 2022.
  • Chronic psychoactive substance abuse disorders continue to be more common than chronic alcohol abuse disorders.
  • Problems in spousal relationships and personal history of self-harm are the two most common psychosocial risk factors recorded across these years. 
  • Problems in relationships with family and friends (excluding spousal relationships) has returned to the top 10 risk factors in 2022.
Ranking of risk factors, number and proportion of suicides, 2018-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 20182019202020212022
 No.%RankNo.%RankNo.%RankNo.%RankNo.%Rank
Mood [affective] disorders (F30-F39)1,49246.611,52145.011,39043.511,18937.611,20036.91
Suicide ideation (R45.8)77024.0489726.6385426.7277624.5283425.72
Problems in spousal relationship circumstances (Z63.0, Z63.5)87327.2297829.0280125.1375423.8381425.13
Personal history of self-harm (Z91.5)80325.1383724.8479825.0464320.3469821.54
Anxiety and stress related disorders (Z73.3, F40-F48 excl. F41.8, F45.4)63919.9674622.1563419.8654917.3656817.55
Acute alcohol use and intoxication (F10.0, R78.0, [T51 excl. UCOD X60-X65])65220.3767520.0763219.8757018.0552216.16
Acute psychoactive substance use and intoxication (F1[1-6,8-9].0, R78.1-R78.9, [T36-T50 excl. UCOD X60-X65])69221.6569320.5665520.5552316.5746214.27
Chronic psychoactive substance abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)56617.7858317.3852916.6839712.5842913.28
Chronic alcohol abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)44213.8945213.4942013.1939612.5940612.59
Problems in relationships with family and friends (Z63.1-Z63.3, Z63.6-Z63.9)38211.91038311.31136311.4122828.91140312.410
  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Data in this table indicates the percentage of deaths with each specified risk factor recorded. Risk factors may not be mutually exclusive, and therefore people with multiple psychosocial factors recorded will be counted in more than one category.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide in the COVID-19 pandemic

The impact of COVID-19 on mortality continues to remain of high importance. This includes deaths from the virus itself as well as non-COVID-19 diseases, suicides, accidents and assaults. For some individuals the effects of COVID-19 on the economy (e.g., changes in employment), the health system (e.g., changes in access to the health system and temporary cessation of elective surgery) and social contact (e.g., social isolation) could lead to risk factors for ill health (including suicide) to increase. In 2022 there were 84 people who died by suicide, who had the COVID-19 pandemic mentioned in either a police, pathology or coronial finding report. For most people who died by suicide and had the COVID-19 pandemic mentioned as a risk factor, it did not appear as an isolated risk. 

When COVID-19 was mentioned as a risk factor it manifested in different ways for individuals. For some people direct impacts from the pandemic such as job loss, lack of financial security, family and relationship pressures and not feeling comfortable with accessing health care were noted. For others, a general concern or anxiety about the pandemic and societal changes were stated or anxiety about contracting the virus itself. The ICD-10 codes assigned by the ABS were dependent on how the risk factor was described as part of the coronial investigation. The table below outlines the three ICD-10 codes used by the ABS to capture different scenarios where the COVID-19 pandemic was stated to be a risk factor for an individual.

ICD-10 codes for capture of COVID-19 pandemic as a risk factor
ICD-10 codeICD-10 code name descriptionDescription of use and inclusion terms
F41.8Other specified anxiety disorders

Pandemic related anxiety and stress.

Includes:  Pandemic and COVID-19 related anxieties, worries, fixations and other psychological manifestations.

Z29.0Isolation

The individual was in isolation or quarantine (hotel or home).

Excl: Social isolation (Z60.4)

Z29.9Prophylactic measure, unspecified

Measures put in place through health directives. 

Includes: closure of business, stay at home measures. 

Note: Where other circumstances or risk factors were as a result of the health directive, both codes are captured and should be considered in combination e.g., Job loss due to closure of workplace as a result of lockdown, both Z56.2 (Threatened or actual job loss) and Z29.9 Prophylactic (measure, unspecified) are captured.

Capture of lockdown only where information in reports explicitly states the lockdown contributed to the death, or as above where lockdown resulted in other risk factors (e.g., job loss or other work-related issues). Deaths where the region was in lockdown at the time of death, but the lockdown has not been stated in reports as contributing to the death, do not capture this code.

COVID-19 as a risk factor for suicide

Those who died by suicide with issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic as a risk factor: 

  • Represented 2.6% of all suicides in 2022.
  • Had an average of 6.5 risk factors mentioned.
  • Had an average of 3.5 psychosocial risk factors mentioned.

The table below shows the most common co-occurring risk factors for suicides with the COVID-19 pandemic identified as a risk factor. Risk factors are not mutually exclusive, and an individual may appear in multiple categories. 

In 2022, for the 84 people who died by suicide with the COVID-19 pandemic identified as a risk factor: 

  • The most common co-occurring risk factor was problems related to employment and unemployment.
  • The number and proportion of people with co-occurring substance abuse disorders was greater than in previous years:
    • 25.0% of people had co-occurring alcohol abuse disorders.
    • 21.4% of people had co-occurring psychoactive substance abuse disorders.
  • There were 17 people who had co-occurring problems related to the social environment including social isolation.
Co-occurring risk factors for suicides with the COVID-19 pandemic identified as a risk factor, 2020-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
 202020212022
 No.%(b)No.%(b)No.%(b)
Suicides with COVID-19 identified as a risk factor (F41.8, Z29.0, Z29.9)129100.081100.084100.0
Problems related to employment and unemployment (Z56)6550.43239.54047.6
Mood [affective] disorders (F30-F39)7658.95365.43946.4
Suicide ideation (R45.8)3728.72530.93035.7
Anxiety and stress related disorders (Z73.3, F40-F48 excl. F41.8, F45.4)3426.42125.92327.4
Problems in spousal relationship circumstances (Z63.0, Z63.5)3023.32227.22125.0
Chronic alcohol abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)1310.11214.82125.0
Chronic psychoactive substance abuse disorders (see Methodology for tabulation)118.589.91821.4
Problems in relationships with family and friends (Z63.1-Z63.3, Z63.6-Z63.9)2720.91518.51720.2
Problems related to social environment (Z60)3325.61113.61720.2
Personal history of self-harm (Z91.5)2519.42227.21619.0
Death of a family member or person in primary support network (Z63.4, Z81.8)2217.11012.31619.0
Acute alcohol use and intoxication (F10.0, R78.0, [T51 excl. UCOD X60-X65])2217.11923.51416.7
Problems related to economic circumstances (Z59.4-Z59.8)2217.11721.01113.1
Schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders (F20-F29)86.21np910.7
Problems related to legal circumstances (Z65.0-Z65.4)97.078.6910.7

np not available for publication

  1. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  2. Proportion of total number of suicides with COVID-19 identified as a risk factor. This includes suicides with an associated cause of F41.8, Z29.0, Z29.9
  3. Data in this table indicates the percentage of deaths with each specified risk factor recorded. Risk factors may not be mutually exclusive, and therefore people with multiple psychosocial factors recorded will be counted in more than one category.
  4. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  5. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  6. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  7. Refer to the methodology for more information.

COVID-19 as a risk factor for suicide, by jurisdiction

In 2022, for the 84 people who died by suicide with the COVID-19 pandemic identified as a risk factor:

  • The majority of people lived in New South Wales, Victoria, or Queensland.
  • Victoria continued to have the highest proportion of jurisdictional suicides with the COVID-19 pandemic identified as a risk factor.
COVID-19 as a risk factor for suicide, number of deaths and percent of total suicides, state or territory of usual residence, 2020-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)
 202020212022
 No.%(d)No.%(d)No.%(d)
NSW313.4262.9202.2
Vic.517.4203.0263.4
Qld293.7212.7162.1
SA1np1np52.1
WA133.471.871.9
Tas.1np1np4np
NT2np1np3np
ACT03np3np
Australia1294.0812.6842.6

np not available for publication
—  nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

  1. Small values are randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. Zero values have not been affected. Some totals will not equal the sum of their components.                                                                                                
  2. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  3. Number of suicides with COVID-19 identified as a risk factor includes suicides with an associated cause of F41.8, Z29.0, Z29.9
  4. Proportion of total number of jurisdictional suicides.
  5. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  6. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  7. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  8. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Intentional self-harm deaths (Suicide) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Support services, 24 hours, 7 days

For further information see Crisis support services.

Since 2009, Australian Governments have worked together through the Closing the Gap strategy to overcome inequality across areas such as life expectancy, mortality, education and employment. Targets set in 2008 were revised in July 2021, with a significant and sustained reduction in the suicide rate among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people set as a specific target area.

Changes to derivation of Indigenous status for deaths registered in New South Wales

In 2022, information from the cause of death process including the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) and coronial information was made available to the ABS by the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages as a secondary source for determining the Indigenous status of the deceased. This aligns NSW with all other states and territories with the exception of Victoria, where only one source is used for deriving Indigenous status. Use of this additional source has led to improved recording of Indigenous status. This change has introduced a break in time series in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death statistics in NSW and Australia. Therefore caution should be used when making comparisons with previous years. For more information on this change and the impacts refer to Technical Note: The impact of using two sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in NSW in 2022.

In 2022, there were 239 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died by suicide across Australia. 

  • 27.6% had a usual residence in New South Wales.
  • Their median age at death was 33.4 years (34.3 years for males and 28.6 years for females).
  • The number of suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased across all jurisdictions when comparing 2013-17 with 2018-22.
Suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, number of deaths by state or territory of usual residence, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)
 20132014201520162017201820192020202120222013-20172018-2022
NSW25234140444852555566173276
Vic.8779610132118223784
Qld52405351536472715758249322
SA91073143121013144451
WA35464047273929364846195198
Tas.4011201313614
NT18291318272130272428105130
ACT2233234243710
Australia1511571641711741862152252202398171,085
  1. Small values are randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. Zero values have not been affected. Some totals will not equal the sum of their components.
  2. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  3. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  4. The 2022 increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths is influenced by the use of information from the MCCD for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  5. Interpret data related to deaths registered in Victoria with caution. Refer to Historical considerations in the Data Quality section of the Methodology for more detail.
  6. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  7. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  8. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by 5 jurisdictions: NSW, Qld, WA, SA, NT

Methods for reporting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicides

Data reported in the remainder of this article are compiled by jurisdiction of usual residence for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory only. These jurisdictions have been found to have a higher quality of identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin allowing more robust analysis of data. Data for those with a usual residence in Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory is unsuitable for comparisons of changes over time, and have been excluded in the remainder of this article. Data presented in this release may underestimate the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died by suicide.

For further information see Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Methodology section of this publication.

In 2022, 212 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died by suicide across the 5 jurisdictions. 

  • Their median age was 33.4 years (34.1 years for males and 31.0 years for females).
  • Suicide was the 5th leading cause of death.
  • Those living in Western Australia had the highest age-standardised suicide rate at 44.0 deaths per 100,000 people. This is 11.3% lower than the 2021 rate of 49.6, but remains 27.4% higher than the second-highest rate (Northern Territory at 34.5 deaths per 100,000).
Suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Number of deaths, Crude death rates, Age-standardised death rates and Median age at death, by state or territory of usual residence, 2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)
 NumberCrude rate(b)SDR(c)Median age at death
NSW6622.226.735.5
Qld5822.925.433.5
SA1429.5np34.5
WA4641.044.032.0
NT2835.434.528.0
Total21226.929.933.4

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated.

  1. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  2. Crude death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  3. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  4. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census.
  5. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  6. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  7. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  8. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  9. Refer to the methodology for more information.

To enable comparison of suicide rates over time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, age-standardised death rates for males, females and all persons are presented in the graph below. Upper and lower bounds (confidence intervals) are included to show the potential variability of the annual suicide rates and can be used in measuring statistical significance in annual rate change.

Between 2013 and 2022:

  • The age-standardised suicide rate increased by 33% to reach the highest rate in the 10-year time series in 2022 (29.9 per 100,000 people).
  • The suicide rate for males increased from 33.3 to 46.3 per 100,000. The 2022 rate is the highest in the 10-year time series.
  • The suicide rate for females increased from 12.1 to 14.0 per 100,000.
  1. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in 2022 were influenced by the use of information from the MCCD for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  3. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  4. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census.
  5. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  6. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  7. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  8. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  9. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by sex

In 2022 there were 160 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males who died by suicide. 

  • Suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death in this population for the 10th consecutive year.
  • Their median age at death was 34.1 years.
  • Three-quarters of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died by suicide were male.

In 2022 there were 52 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females who died by suicide.

  • This represents a decrease from 2021, which had the highest number of suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females in the time series (62 deaths).
  • Suicide was the 10th leading cause of death, down from 7th in 2021.
  • Their median age at death was 31.0 years.
Numbers and Crude death rates for suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, by sex, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)
 20132014201520162017201820192020202120222013-20172018-2022
Number            
 Males100104111117125131137148135160557711
 Females39444343404358516252209266
 Persons139148154160165174195199197212766977
Crude rate(c)            
 Males30.330.832.233.334.935.936.839.034.940.632.437.5
 Females11.713.012.412.211.111.715.513.416.013.212.114.0
 Persons21.021.922.322.723.023.826.226.225.526.922.225.7
  1. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  2. The 2022 increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths is influenced by the use of information from the MCCD for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  3. Crude death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  4. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census.
  5. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  6. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  7. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  8. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  9. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by state and territory of usual residence

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died by suicide between 2013 and 2022:

  • The suicide rate increased from 23.4 per 100,000 people in 2013-2017 to 27.6 per 100,000 in 2018-2022.
  • People with a usual residence in New South Wales had a lower suicide rate than those living elsewhere across both 5-year periods, but had the largest rate increase between the two periods.
  • 2022 saw the largest rate increase in New South Wales since 2015. This increase is entirely accounted for by changes made in 2022 to the derivation of Indigenous status for deaths registered in NSW (see Technical Note: The impact of using two sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in NSW in 2022).
  • Those with a usual residence in Western Australia recorded the highest suicide rate in both 5-year periods.
  • One third of people who died by suicide during 2018-2022 had a usual residence in Queensland.
  • South Australia was the only jurisdiction to record a decrease in rate across the two periods.
Numbers and age-standardised suicide rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, by state or territory of usual residence, 2013-2017 and 2018-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)
 2013-20172018-2022
 No.Rate(c)No.Rate(c)
NSW17315.727622.8
Qld24924.432228.1
SA4424.65123.9
WA19538.019838.1
NT10525.613031.6
Total76623.497727.6
  1. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in 2022 were influenced by the use of information from the MCCD for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  3. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  4. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census.
  5. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  6. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  7. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  8. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  9. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by age

Age-specific suicide rates

Age-specific death rates provide insights into how suicide manifests across age cohorts by relating the number of deaths to the size and structure of the underlying population.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died by suicide between 2018-2022:

  • 80.6% were aged between 15-44 years.
  • For males, the highest suicide rate was for those aged 35-44 years at 84.9 deaths per 100,000. 
  • For females, the highest suicide rate was for those aged 15-24 years at 26.9 deaths per 100,000.
  • Across all age groups, males had a suicide rate over double that of females.
  1. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in 2022 were influenced by the use of information from the MCCD for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  3. Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
  4. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census.
  5. Suicide deaths in the 0–14 years age group have been excluded because of the small number of deaths that occur within this age group.
  6. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  7. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  8. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  9. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  10. Refer to the methodology for more information.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died by suicide between 2013 and 2022:

  • The age-specific suicide rate increased across all age groups between the two 5-year periods 2013-2017 and 2018-2022.
  • Those aged 35-44 years had the largest rate increase between the two periods.
  • The median age at death increased from 29.0 to 30.7 years between the two periods.
  1. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in 2022 were influenced by the use of information from the MCCD for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  3. Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
  4. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census.
  5. Suicide deaths in the 0–14 years age group have been excluded because of the small number of deaths that occur within this age group.
  6. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  7. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  8. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  9. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  10. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Deaths of children by suicide is an extremely sensitive issue. The number of deaths of children attributed to suicide can be influenced by coronial reporting practices. Reporting practices may lead to differences in counts across jurisdictions and this should be considered when interpreting analysis of suicide deaths in children. For more information on issues associated with the compilation and interpretation of suicide data, see Deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide) and Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the methodology in this publication. For the purposes of the following analysis, children are defined as those aged between 5 and 17 years of age. The ABS is not aware of any recorded suicides of children under the age of 5 years.

During the period 2018-2022:

  • Suicide was the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
  • 27.2% of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were due to suicide. 
  • Over three-quarters (75.3%) of Aboriginal and Torres strait islander children who died by suicide were aged between 15 and 17 years. 
  • Over half (57.1%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who died by suicide were female.

For more information on suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children see Table 11.12 in Data Cube 11 in this publication.

Suicide by Indigenous status

Mortality data can provide important insights into population health concerns relevant to different groups within the Australian population. Patterns of death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people differ considerably to those of non-Indigenous people, as is the case with suicide.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died by suicide between 2013 and 2022:

  • The suicide rate was more than double that of non-Indigenous people in the 5-year period 2018-2022.
  • The difference between the suicide rate for Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people has increased for both males and females across the two 5-year periods.
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males had the largest rate increase across the two 5-year periods.

In 2022, for the 5 jurisdictions included in analysis (not including Victoria, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory):

  • Suicide was the 5th leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to 17th for non-Indigenous people. 
  • The median age for suicides was 33.4 years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to 46.9 years for non-Indigenous people.
Age-standardised suicide rates by Indigenous status and sex, 2013-2022 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rate (c)Non-Indigenous rate (c)Rate ratio (e)Rate difference (f)
2013-2017    
 Males35.518.61.916.9
 Females11.96.02.05.9
 Persons23.412.21.911.2
2018-2022    
 Males41.518.82.222.8
 Females14.15.82.48.3
 Persons27.612.22.315.4
  1. Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
  2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in 2022 were influenced by the use of information from the MCCD for the first time for deriving the indigenous status of deaths registered in NSW (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  3. Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
  4. Rates use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census. Non-Indigenous estimates use 2016-census-based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island population and the total 2021-census-based Estimated Resident Population (ERP).
  5. Rate ratio is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rate divided by the non-Indigenous rate. Due to the effect of rounding, rates presented will not multiply exactly to ratio presented.
  6. Rate difference is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rate less the non-Indigenous rate.
  7. Intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0.
  8. Interpret intentional self-harm data with caution (refer to the methodology for more detail).
  9. Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
  10. Data is by date of registration. Data may not match that published previously by reference year.
  11. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Crisis support services

Crisis support services, available 24 hours, 7 days
OrganisationAboutTelephone numberWebsite
LifelineProvides access to crisis support and suicide prevention services.13 11 14lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back ServiceProvides immediate telephone counselling and support in a crisis.1300 659 467suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Beyond BlueSupporting people affected by anxiety, depression and suicide.1300 224 636beyondblue.org.au
MensLine AustraliaTelephone and online support, information and referral service for men with concerns about family and relationships, mental health, anger management, family violence (using and experiencing), substance abuse and wellbeing. The service is available from anywhere in Australia and is staffed by professional counsellors, experienced in men's issues.1300 789 978mensline.org.au
Kids HelplineTelephone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25.1800 551 800kidshelpline.com.au
ReachOutOnline mental health service for under-25s and their parents. au.reachout.com
National Alcohol and Other Drugs HotlineHotline for anyone affected by alcohol or other drugs. Support includes counselling, advice and referral to local services.1800 250 015 
Family Drug SupportHelp for individuals and families dealing with drug and alcohol use. Also provide support groups, education programs, counselling and bereavement services for families.1300 368 186fds.org.au
1800RESPECTNational domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service.1800 737 7321800respect.org.au
13YARNAboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line for people feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping.13 92 7613yarn.org.au
StandBy - Support After SuicideAustralia's leading suicide postvention program dedicated to assisting people and communities bereaved or impacted by suicide, including individuals, families, friends, witnesses, first responders and service providers.1300 727 247standbysupport.com.au

Data downloads

1. Underlying causes of death (Australia)

2. Underlying causes of death (New South Wales)

3. Underlying causes of death (Victoria)

4. Underlying causes of death (Queensland)

5. Underlying causes of death (South Australia)

6. Underlying causes of death (Western Australia)

7. Underlying causes of death (Tasmania)

8. Underlying causes of death (Northern Territory)

9. Underlying causes of death (Australian Capital Territory)

10. Multiple causes of death (Australia)

11. Intentional self-harm (suicide) (Australia)

12. Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

13. Drug and alcohol-induced deaths (Australia)

14. Causes of death by year of occurrence (Australia)

15. Perinatal deaths (Australia)

All data cubes

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 3303.0

Post release changes

28/09/2023 - Tables within data cubes '11. Intentional self-harm (suicide) (Australia)' (i.e. Tables 11.13 and 11.15) and '13. Drug and alcohol-induced deaths (Australia)' (i.e. Tables 13.6 and 13.13) have been updated to include death rates for capital city/rest of state to coincide with the release of the latest regional population data.

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