DEATHS


There were 160,909 deaths registered in Australia in 2017, 2,405 more than the number registered in 2016 (158,504). Over three quarters (77.1%) of these deaths were to usual residents of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland combined. Since 2007, the number of deaths registered has increased by around 1.6% per year on average for males and 1.5% 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 (82,858) registered in 2017 than female deaths (78,051), resulting in a sex ratio of 106.2 male deaths for every 100 female deaths. The distribution of deaths registered in 2017 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 2017, median age at death was 78.9 years for males and 85.0 years for females. There was no change in median age at death for males or females since 2016. Over the past 10 years, median age at death has increased by 1.4 years for males and 1.5 years for females at the national level. In 2017, the highest median age at death was in Victoria for males (80.2 years) and in South Australia for females (85.8 years). The lowest medians were in the Northern Territory (62.0 years and 65.3 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 - 2007, 2016 and 2017
	2007	2016(a)	2017	2017
State or territory of usual residence	no.	no.	no.	%
New South Wales	46 759	53 694	52 778	32.8
Victoria	33 930	39 450	39 791	24.7
Queensland	25 801	29 690	31 555	19.6
South Australia	12 345	13 337	14 052	8.7
Western Australia	12 283	14 839	14 494	9.0
Tasmania	4 132	4 595	4 780	3.0
Northern Territory	1 001	1 044	1 106	0.7
Australian Capital Territory	1 597	1 839	2 320	1.4
Australia(b)	137 854	158 504	160 909	100.0
(a) Deaths occurred on Norfolk Island from 1 July 2016 are included in this publication. See Explanatory Note 5 for more information. (b) Includes Other Territories.