DEATHS


There were 158,504 deaths registered in Australia in 2016, 548 less than the number registered in 2015 (159,052). Over three quarters (77.5%) of these deaths were to usual residents of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland combined. Since 2006, the number of deaths registered has increased by around 1.8% per year on average for males and 1.7% per year for females, with year-to-year fluctuations (see graph 1.1). For detailed data, see ABS.Stat Datasets - Deaths, Year of registration, Summary data, Sex, States, Territories and Australia, from the Downloads tab.



Male and female deaths

There were more male deaths (81,867) registered in 2016 than female deaths (76,637), resulting in a sex ratio of 106.8 male deaths for every 100 female deaths. The distribution of deaths registered in 2016 by age group and sex is illustrated in graph 1.2.



Footnote(s):
(a) Excludes deaths for which age was not stated.

Median age

In 2016, the median age at death was 78.9 years for males and 85.0 years for females. This was an increase of 0.2 years for males while females remained the same since 2015. Over the past 10 years, the median age at death has increased by 1.6 years for males and 1.7 years for females at the national level. In 2016, the highest median age at death was in South Australia for both males (80.1 years) and females (85.9 years). The lowest medians were in the Northern Territory (64.8 years and 68.4 years respectively).

States and territories

The following table shows the distribution of deaths registered in Australia's states and territories.

1.3 DEATHS REGISTERED, States and territories - 2006, 2015 and 2016
	2006	2015	2016(a)	2016
State or territory of usual residence	no.	no.	no.	%
New South Wales	46 034	53 600	53 694	33.9
Victoria	33 311	39 904	39 450	24.9
Queensland	24 473	29 782	29 690	18.7
South Australia	11 921	13 647	13 337	8.4
Western Australia	11 643	14 448	14 839	9.4
Tasmania	3 934	4 633	4 595	2.9
Northern Territory	932	1 171	1 044	0.7
Australian Capital Territory	1 484	1 859	1 839	1.2
Australia(b)	133 739	159 052	158 504	100.0
(a) Deaths occurred on Norfolk Island from 1 July 2016 are included in this publication for the first time. See Explanatory Note 5 for more information. (b) Includes Other Territories.