Australia’s leading causes of death, 2017

In 2017, there were 160,909 deaths in Australia (82,858 males and 78,051 females).The leading cause of death was Ischaemic heart disease (18,590 deaths), accounting for 11.6% of all deaths. While remaining the leading cause of death, the number of deaths from Ischaemic heart disease has been steadily declining over the past decade. The death rate has decreased from 99.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2008 to 59.3 per 100,000 in 2017, and the number of deaths has decreased by 21.9%.

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, remained the second leading cause of death in 2017, accounting for 13,729 deaths. The number of deaths from Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease has increased by 68.0% over the past decade with the death rate increasing from 33.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 2008 to 41.6 in 2017.

Cerebrovascular diseases (6.3%), Chronic lower respiratory diseases (5.2%) and Cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung (5.1%) complete the top five leading causes of death. While the top five remain the same as 2016, Chronic lower respiratory diseases and Cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung have swapped ranking. In total the top five leading causes accounted for more than one-third (36.7%) of all deaths registered in 2017.

In 2017, Influenza and pneumonia accounted for 4,269 deaths and was the 9th leading cause of death. 2017 was noted for having a particularly bad flu season and this led to an increased number of influenza deaths, although it should be noted that pneumonia still accounted for the majority of deaths in this category. Further information on influenza is provided in a separate article.

The ABS ranks leading causes of death in this publication based on research presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Volume 84, Number 4, April 2006, 297-304. Leading causes are based on the underlying cause of death, defined by the World Health Organization as the disease or external event which initiated the train of morbid events leading to death.

Leading cause tabulations provide a simplified view of mortality data which does not necessarily take account of changes within leading cause groupings, changes in key demographics or other conditions (multiple causes of death) that are often listed on a death certificate. See the article: Looking beneath the surface of leading causes of death, for further information.


Leading Causes of Death, Australia - Selected years - 2008, 2012, 2017 (a)(b)(c)(d)

	2008		2012		2017		Median Age (2017)
Cause of death and ICD code	no.	Rank	no.	Rank	no.	Rank	years
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	23,813	1	20,108	1	18,590	1	85.0
Dementia, including Alzheimer disease (F01, F03, G30)	8,172	3	10,367	3	13,729	2	88.8
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	11,979	2	10,785	2	10,186	3	86.3
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	6,255	5	6,647	5	8,357	4	81.0
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	7,956	4	8,138	4	8,262	5	73.7
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0) (c)	5,274	6	5,124	6	5,325	6	77.5
Diabetes (E10-E14)	4,181	7	4,241	7	4,839	7	81.9
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	3,887	8	4,001	8	4,499	8	77.6
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)	1,760	17	2,723	13	4,269	9	88.3
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	3,235	10	3,712	9	3,565	10	87.1
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	3,363	9	3,494	10	3,487	11	88.7
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	3,031	11	3,078	11	3,275	12	82.3
Intentional self-harm (X60-X84, Y87.0)(d)	2,341	13	2,580	14	3,128	13	44.5
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	2,289	14	2,524	15	2,996	14	75.1
Malignant neoplasms of breast (C50)	2,789	12	2,819	12	2,928	15	71.2
Accidental falls (W00-W19)	1,461	21	2,017	17	2,782	16	87.5
Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49)	1,550	19	1,721	19	2,330	17	88.4
Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)	1,833	16	1,861	18	2,317	18	88.3
Melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin  (C43-C44)	1,857	15	2,036	16	2,011	19	77.8
Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions (R00-R99)	853	37	1,337	26	1,938	20	72.9

Footnote(s):
(a) Causes listed are the top 20 leading causes of death for 2017, based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Explanatory Notes 36-39 in this publication for further information. 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 unspecific nature of these causes. Furthermore, many deaths coded to this chapter are likely to be affected by revisions, and hence recoded to more specific causes of death as they progress through the revisions process.
(b) See Explanatory Notes 75-106 for further information on specific issues related to interpreting time-series and 2017 data.
(c) The data presented for Malignant neoplasm of the colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21) includes deaths due to Malignant neoplasm of the intestinal tract, part unspecified (C26.0). Comparisons with data for this leading cause, and associated leading cause rankings, should therefore be made with caution. See Explanatory Note 38 in this publication for further details.
(d) The data presented for intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0. Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to intentional self-harm. See Explanatory Notes 91-100 in this publication.




Years of Potential Life Lost

Counts of deaths provide one measure of the impact of particular diseases, but they do not take into account the ages at which deaths occur. Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) measures the extent of 'premature' mortality from specific diseases or trauma, counting the total number of years between age at death and an 'average' life expectancy for deaths that occur before that average age. In Australia, this is assumed to be any death between the ages of 1-78 years, inclusive.

The graph below presents the leading causes of death which contributed to the top 20 YPLL count in 2017. While a cause of death may have a lower incidence than that of another, its impact when measured in terms of premature death may be greater as a result of that cause affecting a younger demographic. Intentional self-harm accounted for 1.9% of all deaths, while Ischaemic heart diseases accounted for 11.6%. However, with a median age at death of 44.5 years, intentional self-harm contributed 11.4% of total YPLLs in 2017, compared to 7.4% from Ischaemic heart diseases, which has a median age at death of 85.0 years.



Leading Causes of Death by Sex

In 2017, the leading cause of death for males was Ischaemic heart disease (10,514 deaths), while for females it was Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (8,859 deaths). Over the past decade the number of deaths from heart disease has decreased for both sexes, while dementia deaths have increased. Females account for 64.5% of dementia deaths while males account for 56.6% of ischaemic heart disease deaths.

The top 5 leading causes for both sexes comprise the same conditions (Ischaemic heart disease, Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, Cerebrovascular diseases, Chronic lower respiratory diseases and Malignant neoplasms of the trachea, bronchus and lung) but the ranking of those conditions differs considerably. Cerebrovascular diseases account for a higher number of female deaths and rank third compared to fourth for males, while lung cancer deaths are more common among men ranking second compared to fifth among females.

The sex specific cancers (Malignant neoplasm of prostate and Malignant neoplasm of breast) were the sixth leading causes of deaths for males and females respectively. Prostate cancer was the cause of 3,275 male deaths while breast cancer caused 2,898 female deaths. Colorectal cancer was the seventh ranked leading cause for both males and females.

Intentional self-harm was the tenth leading cause of death among males in 2017, accounting for 2,348 deaths while it does not rank in the top 20 leading causes for females. Approximately three quarters of Intentional self-harm deaths are of males.


Leading Causes of Death, Australia - by sex - 2017 (a)(b)(c)

Males			Females
Cause of death and ICD code	no.	rank	Cause of death and ICD code	no.	rank
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	10,514	1	Dementia, including Alzheimer disease (F01, F03, G30)	8,859	1
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	4,911	2	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	8,076	2
Dementia, including Alzheimer disease (F01, F03, G30)	4,870	3	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	5,884	3
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	4,302	4	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	4,089	4
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	4,268	5	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	3,351	5
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	3,275	6	Malignant neoplasms of breast (C50)	2,898	6
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)(b)	2,862	7	Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)(b)	2,463	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	2,660	8	Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)	2,326	8
Diabetes (E10-E14)	2,583	9	Diabetes (E10-E14)	2,256	9
Intentional self-harm (X60-X84, Y870)(c)	2,348	10	Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	1,958	10
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)	1,943	11	Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	1,905	11
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	1,607	12	Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	1,839	12
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	1,582	13	Accidental falls (W00-W19)	1,469	13
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	1,566	14	Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)	1,467	14
Accidental falls (W00-W19)	1,313	15	Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49)	1,460	15
Melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin  (C43-C44)	1,303	16	Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	1,430	16
Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver (K70-K76)	1,295	17	Malignant neoplasm of ovary (C56)	990	17
Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)	1,241	18	Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions (R00-R99)	926	18
Parkinson's disease (G20)	1,142	19	Nonrheumatic valve disorders (I34-I38)	918	19
Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions (R00-R99)	1,012	20	Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99)	911	20

Footnote(s):
(a) Causes listed are the top 20 leading causes of death for 2017, based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Explanatory Notes 36-39 in this publication for further information. 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 unspecific nature of these causes. Furthermore, many deaths coded to this chapter are likely to be affected by revisions, and hence recoded to more specific causes of death as they progress through the revisions process.
(b) The data presented for Malignant neoplasm of the colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21) includes deaths due to Malignant neoplasm of the intestinal tract, part unspecified (C26.0). Comparisons with data for this leading cause, and associated leading cause rankings, should therefore be made with caution. See Explanatory Note 38 in this publication for further details.
(c) The data presented for intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0. Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to intentional self-harm. See Explanatory Notes 91-100 in this publication.






Sex ratios

The graph below depicts the underlying causes of death with the largest sex ratios, within the top 20 leading causes of death in Australia in 2017 (excluding sex-specific causes such as prostate cancer).

Intentional self-harm was the cause most likely to affect males, with 301 male deaths for every 100 female deaths. Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, was the cause which most predominantly affected females, with 55 male deaths for every 100 female deaths.

Greatest sex ratios within the 20 leading causes of death, 2017 (a)(b)(c)


Footnote(s):
(a) Causes listed are the leading causes of death for all deaths registered in 2017, based on WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See Explanatory Notes 36-39 for further information.
(b) Causes of death data for 2017 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See Explanatory Notes 57-60.
(c) The data presented for intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0. Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to intentional self-harm. See Explanatory Notes 91-100 in this publication.