Provisional Mortality Statistics

Latest release

Provisional deaths data for measuring changes in patterns of mortality

Reference period
Jan - Feb 2026
Release date and time
29/05/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

  • 27,941 deaths occurred between January and February 2026, 0.4% less than 2025 and 3.4% less than 2024.
  • 13,102 deaths occurred in February 2026, 0.7% less than 2025 and 5.6% less than 2024 (a leap year).
  • 188,156 deaths occurred in 2025, 0.6% more than 2024 and 2.7% more than 2023.

This publication presents the number of deaths occurring by week and month. From May 2026, deaths occurring in 2026 will be presented. Key considerations are:

  • Deaths occurring in 2026 will have two comparison points: 2024 and 2025. This is the same format for deaths that occurred in 2024 and 2025, which were each compared to the two previous years. Reasons for this presentation of data has been outlined in previous publications.
  • Age-standardised death rates can be accessed via the data downloads tab in this publication.
  • A time series of weekly and monthly deaths occurring from 2015 is available in the data downloads section of this publication. Customised datasets are able to be created from these data cubes.
  • The data in this publication is not an excess mortality estimate. Excess mortality estimates to December 2023 are available in published articles from the following links: ‘Measuring Australia’s excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic until December 2023’ (published 28 June 2024), and excess mortality estimates by remoteness areas (published 28 February 2025). Excess mortality by selected causes of death, 2020-23 was published 29 September 2025. Excess mortality estimates for 2024 and 2025 will be published in coming months.
  • More detailed analysis on mortality from influenza and respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19 are provided in the publication: 'Deaths due to acute respiratory infections in Australia'.

Australian deaths by week

All-cause deaths

In 2025:

  • There were 188,156 deaths that were registered by 30 April 2026. This is 1,072 deaths (0.6%) more than in 2024 and 4,882 (2.7%) more than in 2023.
  • 163,705 (87%) of the deaths were doctor certified and 24,451 were coroner referred.
  • The age-standardised death rate (SDR) for 2025 was 494.3 deaths per 100,000 people, lower than death rates for both 2024 (507.7) and 2023 (513.4).

In 2026:

  • There were 27,941 deaths in the first two months of 2026 that were registered by 30 April 2026. This is 106 deaths (0.4%) less than in 2025 and 974 (3.4%) less than in 2024.
  • There were 14,839 deaths in January 2026 and 13,102 deaths in February.
  • 24,419 of the deaths occurring in January and February 2026 were doctor certified and 3,522 were coroner referred.
  • The age-standardised death rate (SDR) for January was 38.1 deaths per 100,000 people, lower than death rates for both 2025 (39.4) and 2024 (41.2). The SDR for February (33.6) was lower than both 2025 (35.0) and 2024 (38.1).

Deaths are presented by counts only. Counts of death do not account for changes in population. See data downloads for weekly and monthly age-standardised death rate calculations. 

a. Data is by occurrence.
b. Data is provisional and subject to change.
c. Weeks are defined as seven-day periods which start on a Monday as per the ISO week date system. Refer to 'Weekly comparisons' on the methodology page of this publication for more information regarding the data in this graph. Week 1 ended 7 Jan 2024, 5 Jan 2025 and 4 Jan 2026.

Age-specific death rates

The following table shows age-specific death rates (deaths per 100,000 population) for different age groups by sex in February 2026, presented alongside data for 2025 and 2024. All references to "death rates" in this section refer to age-specific death rates. 

Full year, 2025

  • All age-specific rates for 2025 were lower than either 2024 or 2023. Persons aged 0-44 years had a death rate 4.0% lower than 2024 and 4.1% lower than 2023 in 2025. Persons aged 75-84 years had a death rate 5.5% lower than 2023.
  • For males, all age-specific rates for 2025 were lower than either 2024 or 2023. The death rate for males aged 0-44 years in 2025 was 4.9% lower than in 2024, and the death rate for males aged 75-84 years was 5.4% lower than in 2023.
  • For females, age-specific rates for 2025 were lower than either 2024 or 2023, with the exception of females aged 65-74 years, who recorded a death rate 1.2% higher than 2024 and 0.6% higher than 2023. The death rate for females aged 0-44 years in 2025 was 6.0% lower than in 2023.

February 2026

  • Death rates were lower across most age groups in February than in 2025. The only exception was for those aged 0-44 years, which was 1.4% higher. Persons aged 65-74 years had a death rate 9.0% lower than in 2025. All age-specific rates were lower in February 2026 than in 2024 (a leap year), with the death rate for those aged 0-44 years 19.8% lower in February 2026.
  • For males, all age groups had a lower age-specific death rate in February than in 2025, except for those aged 0-44 years, which was 1.1% higher. Males aged 65-74 years had a death rate 10.7% lower than in 2025. Death rates were also lower across all age groups compared to 2024, with the death rate for those aged 0-44 years 23.1% lower.
  • For females, all age groups had a lower age-specific death rate in February than in 2025 other than those aged 0-44 years, which was 1.9% higher and those aged 45-64 years which was 0.03% higher. The death rate for those aged 65-74 years was 6.2% lower in 2026. Compared to 2024, all age groups had lower age-specific rates, with the death rate for those aged 65-74 years 16.2% lower.
  • For all age groups, males have a higher death rate compared to females, with the rate ratio being largest in the youngest age groups and smallest in the oldest age group.

Year to date, January to February 2026

  • For males and females, all age-specific death rates for January to February 2026 were lower than in 2025 and 2024. Death rates for the 65-74 age group were lower than 2025 for persons (6.4% lower), males (6.9% lower) and females (5.7% lower). The death rates for those aged 0-44 years were 15.0% lower for persons than in 2024, and 18.4% lower for males. The female death rate for those aged 65-74 years was 11.2% lower than in 2024. 
Age specific rates, 2026, 2025, 2024(a)(b)(c)(d)
 FebruaryJanuary - February
 202620252024202620252024
Persons 
0-443.3453.2984.1697.3187.4868.611
45-6423.54524.65327.47949.56452.32855.382
65-7474.11681.41587.436161.622172.721181.772
75-84221.522224.827237.146464.506477.070503.529
85 and over851.881887.667959.2721,825.4141,877.2361,995.396
All ages46.86847.93851.20799.949101.873106.644
Males 
0-444.3484.3015.6539.4119.61611.538
45-6429.50431.76334.28863.23167.33870.844
65-7492.425103.511108.045201.227216.144225.860
75-84262.674267.793281.421553.110568.784595.043
85 and over895.152935.9881,038.4961,910.5481,974.0022,117.581
All ages49.33650.91054.399105.361107.812112.809
Females 
0-442.3102.2662.6405.1605.2915.596
45-6417.81017.80420.91636.40937.87240.477
65-7457.38461.17468.492125.426132.943141.247
75-84185.064186.594197.598386.010395.459421.784
85 and over821.875854.763906.2681,766.3761,811.3451,913.649
All ages44.43545.00848.05894.61596.017100.563

 

  1. Data is by occurrence.
  2. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  3. Doctor certified and coroner referred deaths are included.
  4. Age-specific death rates reflect deaths per 100,000 of the estimated resident population (ERP).

Mortality by selected causes of death

Cause-specific mortality

The following analysis is based only on doctor certified deaths (i.e. coroner referred deaths are not included). Any changes in patterns of coroner referral could affect counts of doctor certified deaths. Some conditions have higher coroner referral rates (ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases and to a lesser extent, respiratory diseases and diabetes) so counts for those conditions would be more likely to be affected by such changes.

Full year, 2025

  • Deaths due to respiratory diseases in 2025 were 4.6% higher than in 2024 and 16.6% higher than in 2023. The 1,360 deaths due to influenza were a significant contributor to this increase (compared to 745 deaths in 2024 and 405 deaths in 2023). Deaths due to pneumonia were 4.2% higher than in 2024 and 19.6% higher than in 2023.
  • Deaths due to dementia were 3.9% higher than in 2024 and 9.6% higher than in 2023. The age-standardised death rate for dementia in 2025 was 44.5, comparable 2024 (44.6) and slightly higher than 2023 (43.9).
  • Deaths due to COVID-19 in 2025 were 55.4% lower than in 2024 and 62.2% lower than in 2023.
  • Deaths due to diabetes were 3.3% lower than in 2024 and 4.6% lower than in 2023.
  • Deaths due to ischaemic heart disease were 1.4% lower than in 2024 and 7.5% lower than in 2023.

February 2026

  • Deaths due to respiratory diseases in February 2026 were 3.1% lower than 2025 and 7.9% lower than in 2024 (a leap year). Deaths due to chronic respiratory diseases were 9.2% lower than in 2025 and 11.0% lower than in 2024. Deaths due to influenza and pneumonia were 9.2% lower than in 2025 and 5.8% lower than in 2024.
  • Deaths due to COVID-19 (that were certified by a doctor) were 69.5% lower in February 2026 than in 2025 and 85.3% lower than 2024.
  • Deaths due to ischaemic heart disease were 11.1% lower than in 2025 and 15.3% lower than in 2024. 

Year to date, January to February 2026

  • There were 111 deaths due to influenza (certified by a doctor) in January and February 2026, well above the 57 deaths in 2025 and the 53 deaths in 2024.
  • Deaths due to COVID-19 that were certified by a doctor between January and February 2026 were 73.5% lower than in 2025 and 85.8% lower than in 2024.
  • Deaths due to ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes were lower in the first two months of 2026 than in 2025 or 2024.
Doctor certified deaths by cause, 2026, 2025, 2024 (a)(b)
 FebruaryYear to date - January - February
202620252024202620252024
Cancer4,0323,9054,1578,3918,1508,392
Dementia1,2931,2711,2082,7192,6672,574
Respiratory diseases9781,0091,0622,2252,1952,208
 Chronic lower respiratory diseases5165685801,1141,2101,198
 Influenza and pneumonia178196189474416401
  Pneumonia152166163363359348
Ischaemic heart disease7738709131,6921,8741,947
Other cardiac conditions7347327191,6281,5261,563
Cerebrovascular diseases5846066271,2291,2641,326
Diabetes352367369755771803
COVID-194013127299374699
  1. Only doctor certified deaths are included.
  2. Data is by date of occurrence.

Timeliness and completeness of data

Each death registration in the national mortality dataset has 3 dates:

  • The date on which the death occurred.
  • The date on which the death was registered with the jurisdictional Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (RBDM).
  • The date on which the death was lodged with the ABS. 

When looking to measure change over time, the completeness of data for the most recent period is important. When data is received each month by the ABS, the lag between the date of death and the date of registration means that approximately 40-50% of reported registrations are of deaths that occurred in the month being reported. The remainder are deaths that occurred in earlier months.

To date for 2026, the ABS has received 14,035 death registrations (deaths registered up until 30 April 2026). Of these, 13,845 deaths occurred in 2026, 158 deaths occurred in 2025 and the remainder occurred in earlier years.

For deaths which are doctor certified, approximately 95% of registrations are received after a second month of reporting, while for coroner certified deaths, the proportion of registrations reported after a second month is lower (approximately 80%). This is because it takes longer for coroners to certify deaths due to the complexity of investigations.

As coroner referred deaths make up a smaller proportion of all deaths (approximately 11-14%) their inclusion in all-cause data only reduces the overall completeness by around 2-3%. This should be considered when making comparisons with historical counts, noting also that the level of completeness will be higher for the start of any given month than the end of that month. 

This pattern of registration and reporting is highlighted in the table below, which also shows the slight variation in reporting timelines by cause of death.

Estimated completeness of death registrations received by the ABS (a)(b)(c)
 Total proportion reported at the end of
Cause of deaththe month the death occurred (%)the month after the death occurred (%)two months after the death occurred (%)
All cause - doctor and coroner certified41.293.297.6
All cause - doctor certified only43.994.998.5
All cause - coroner certified only22.680.891.8
Ischaemic heart disease (I20 – I25)42.294.498.2
Other cardiac conditions (I26 – I51)44.095.498.7
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60 – I69)44.395.298.6
Respiratory diseases (J00 – J99)44.595.999.1
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40 – J47)42.793.997.9
Influenza and pneumonia (J09 – J18)43.295.298.7
Cancer (C00 – C97, D45, D46, D47.1, D47.3 – D47.5)45.195.598.7
Diabetes (E10 – E14)41.891.996.8
Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (F01, F03, G30, G31.0, G31.8)44.695.899.0
  1. Percentages are based on the date registrations were received by the ABS for deaths that occurred in 2021-2025.
  2. Only doctor certified deaths are included for cause-specific data.
  3. Data is provisional and subject to change.
     

The graphs below show how numbers of deaths for each period have increased over time as additional registrations that occurred in previous months are reported to the ABS. Due to these increases, data for the most recently reported periods should be treated with caution.

Data downloads

Provisional Mortality Statistics, Jan - Feb 2026

Data files

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 3303.0.55.004

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