DEATHS


DEATHS

There were 147,678 deaths registered in Australia in 2013, 580 more than the number registered in 2012 (147,098). Since 2003, the number of deaths registered has increased by around 1.0% per year on average for males and 1.2% per year for females, with year-to-year fluctuations (see graph 1.1). For detailed data, see data cube Table 1: Deaths, Summary, States and territories - 2003 to 2013, from the Downloads tab.



Male and female deaths

There were more male deaths (75,782) registered in 2013 than female deaths (71,896), resulting in a sex ratio of 105.4 male deaths for every 100 female deaths. The distribution of deaths registered in 2013 by age group and sex is illustrated in graph 1.2.


Footnotes(s): (a) Excludes deaths for which age at death was not stated.

Median age

In 2013, the median age at death was 78.4 years for males and 84.6 years for females. This was an decrease of 0.2 years for males and no change for females since 2012. Over the past 10 years, the median age at death has increased by 2.2 years each for males and females at the national level. In 2013, the highest median age at death for males was in South Australia (79.7 years) and the lowest in the Northern Territory (63.9 years). Similarly, for females the highest median age at death was in South Australia (85.3 years) and lowest in the Northern Territory (64.8 years).