Causes of Death, Australia

Latest release

Statistics on the number of deaths, by sex, selected age groups, and cause of death classified to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

Reference period

2024

Released

14/11/2025

Next release Unknown

Release date and time

07/05/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease is now Australia’s leading cause of death.
Ischaemic heart diseases are at their lowest rate in the available time series.
There were 187,268 registered deaths in 2024, an increase of 4,137 since 2023.

Revised causes of death data now available

Revised cause of death data is now available. This publication now includes final data for deaths registered in 2022, revised data for deaths registered in 2023, and a preliminary revision of deaths registered in 2024. The ABS recommends that data users refer to the revised causes of death dataset for analysis.

Revised data for 2022-2024 is presented separately in the following publications:

Intentional self-harm (suicide) deaths, 2024: Updated time series tables and analyses for deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide).
Deaths from external causes, 2024: Updated time series tables and analyses for drug-induced deaths.

A new data download is also available containing updated time series tables for underlying causes of death, multiple causes of death, deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide), and drug-induced deaths.

For further information on the methods and scope of the revisions process, see Methodology: Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024.

Crisis support services, 24 hours, 7 days

Some of these statistics may cause distress. Services you can contact are detailed in blue boxes throughout this publication and in the Crisis support services section at the end of the publication.

Lifeline: 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
MensLine Australia: 1300 789 978
13YARN: 13 92 76
Kids Helpline (for young people aged 5 to 25 years): 1800 551 800
National Alcohol and Other Drugs Hotline: 1800 250 015

The ABS uses, and supports the use of, the Mindframe guidelines on responsible, accurate and safe reporting on suicide, mental ill-health and alcohol and other drugs. The ABS recommends referring to these guidelines when reporting on statistics in this report.

Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024

Each year, the ABS revises cause of death data for three registration years (2022, 2023 and 2024 in this release). The primary purpose of the revisions process is to update causes of death for coroner certified deaths where coronial investigations were still open at the time data was last published for a given registration year. As investigations progress and additional information becomes available, the cause of death coding for these records may be revised. In rare cases, doctor certified deaths may be revised due to new or updated information being received by the ABS.

While any cause of death may be revised, some are more likely to change than others. For example, deaths initially assigned an unspecified cause are often updated to a more specific underlying cause once coronial proceedings are finalised (e.g., a death initially classified as having an unknown underlying cause may be reclassified as a death due to coronary atherosclerosis following autopsy). Suicides and drug-induced deaths are also more likely to be revised due to the complexity of the investigations associated with these causes of death.

Leading causes of death

Most deaths in Australia are certified by a doctor (approximately 88% each year). As a result, the highest ranked leading causes of death are generally minimally affected by revisions to coroner certified deaths. However, some changes to the number of deaths for leading causes still occur during each revisions cycle.

Revised counts and rankings for the top 20 leading causes of death are tabulated below. This was the third and final revision for deaths registered in 2022 and the second revision for deaths registered in 2023. For information on the outcomes of previous revisions cycles for deaths registered in these years, refer to Revisions to causes of death, 2021-2023.

For deaths registered in 2022 and 2023:

Revisions to causes of death did not result in any changes in ranking for the top 20 leading causes.
Accidental falls had the largest numeric increase within the top 20 leading causes, with an increase of 10 deaths in 2022 and 41 deaths in 2023 (since leading cause data was last published).

For deaths registered in 2024:

Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver replaced Parkinson's disease as the 20th leading cause of death.
Ischaemic heart diseases had the largest numeric increase within the top 20 leading causes, with an increase of 51 deaths since last publication. Outside of the top 20 leading causes, the only cause of death with a larger numeric increase was Accidental poisoning, which increased by 73 deaths as a result of revisions to causes of death.
Despite deaths due to ischaemic heart disease comprising some of the largest numeric increases for underlying causes of death as part of the revisions process, these additional deaths make up a small proportion of the total deaths within this leading cause group. The majority of ischaemic heart disease deaths are certified by a doctor and are therefore already assigned an underlying cause of ischaemic heart disease in the preliminary dataset. As a result, its ranking as the 2nd leading cause of death in 2024 is unchanged.

Revised top 20 leading causes of death, Australia, 2022-2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	2022		2023		2024
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	no.	rank	no.	rank	no.	rank
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	17,113	2	16,690	2	17,550	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	18,829	1	17,093	1	16,326	2
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	8,611	6	8,399	5	9,239	3
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	9,838	4	9,382	3	9,154	4
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	9,115	5	8,987	4	9,122	5
Diabetes (E10-E14)	6,080	7	5,974	6	5,989	6
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	5,408	8	5,492	7	5,388	7
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	5,035	10	4,990	10	5,197	8
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	5,172	9	5,125	8	5,168	9
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	4,573	11	4,541	11	4,812	10
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	3,941	12	4,054	12	4,267	11
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)	9,859	3	5,009	9	4,029	12
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	3,702	14	3,732	13	3,874	13
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	3,804	13	3,727	14	3,836	14
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)	2,779	18	2,912	17	3,672	15
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	3,342	15	3,311	15	3,326	16
Malignant neoplasms of breast (C50)	3,160	16	3,249	16	3,204	17
Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)	2,644	19	2,703	19	2,866	18
Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49)	2,794	17	2,724	18	2,674	19
Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver (K70-K76)	2,618	20	2,580	20	2,601	20

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2022, revised data for 2023 and preliminary revised data for 2024.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the data processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Data presented beyond this point is based on causes of death as published in November 2025.

In May 2026, revised causes of death data was published for deaths registered in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The ABS recommends that data users refer to the revised cause of death dataset for analysis.

Revised data for 2022-2024 is presented in the following locations:

Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024
Intentional self-harm (suicide) deaths, 2024
Deaths from external causes, 2024
Data downloads (Revisions to Causes of Death, 2022-2024 data tables)

Australia's leading causes of death

There were 187,268 deaths registered in Australia in 2024, an increase of 4,137 deaths from 2023. When adjusted for age-structure and population size, the age-standardised mortality rate decreased to 507.8 deaths per 100,000 people, from 513.0 the previous year. Identifying and comparing leading causes of death in populations is useful for tracking changes in patterns of mortality and identifying emerging trends. For more information related to the tabulation of leading causes, refer to the Data Processing – Methods for cause of death analysis section of the methodology.

In 2024:

The leading cause of death was dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, accounting for 9.4% of deaths.
Ischaemic heart diseases were the second leading cause of death and accounted for 8.7% of deaths.
The gap between these two causes of death has been narrowing over time. 2024 is the first year where dementia caused over 1,000 more deaths than ischaemic heart diseases. In 2023, the two conditions were close in number, with ischaemic heart diseases accounting for 9.3% of total deaths and dementia 9.1%.
It is the lowest mortality rate recorded for ischaemic heart diseases since it's peak in 1968.
Chronic lower respiratory diseases were the 3rd leading cause of death for the first time since 1996. During this time they have fluctuated between being the 4th and 5th leading cause of death.
Cerebrovascular diseases and malignant neoplasms of trachea, bronchus and lung (lung cancer) rounded out the top five leading causes.
COVID-19 was the 12th leading cause of death in 2024, after ranking 9th in 2023 and 3rd in 2022.
Suicide was the 16th leading cause of death. People who died by suicide had a median age at death of 46.0 years.
The top 5 leading causes accounted for just under one-third (32.7%) of all registered deaths.

Between 2015 and 2024:

The number of deaths due to dementia, including Alzheimer's disease increased by 38.8%.
The number of deaths due to ischaemic heart diseases and cerebrovascular diseases decreased by 18.3% and 15.9%, respectively.
The number of deaths from accidental falls increased by 58.3% over the period. Accidental falls were the 8th leading cause of death in 2024, compared to the 11th a decade ago. They were the highest ranked external cause of death. Accidental falls have a high median age at death at 87.8 years. Common complications from falls leading to death include hip fractures, immobility and pneumonia. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.

For dementia information and support please contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500.

Top 20 leading causes of death, Australia – selected years – 2015, 2019, 2023, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	2015		2019		2023		2024		2024
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	no.	Rank	no.	Rank	no.	Rank	no.	Rank	Median age (years)
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	12,641	2	15,154	2	16,689	2	17,549	1	88.7
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	19,926	1	18,001	1	17,055	1	16,275	2	83.0
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	8,025	5	8,393	5	8,388	5	9,229	3	80.2
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	10,871	3	9,860	3	9,375	3	9,147	4	85.1
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	8,478	4	8,754	4	8,985	4	9,119	5	75.2
Diabetes (E10-E14)	4,695	7	4,978	7	5,966	6	5,965	6	81.7
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	5,553	6	5,388	6	5,492	7	5,387	7	78.0
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	3,271	11	3,925	9	4,949	10	5,179	8	87.8
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	4,423	8	4,778	8	5,125	8	5,163	9	79.4
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	3,450	10	3,715	11	4,539	11	4,810	10	87.0
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	3,560	9	3,521	13	4,049	12	4,257	11	88.7
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)	na	na	na	na	5,006	9	4,025	12	86.8
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	2,770	16	3,184	16	3,732	13	3,873	13	76.0
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	3,201	12	3,603	12	3,726	14	3,835	14	83.3
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)	3,071	14	3,856	10	2,906	17	3,665	15	88.0
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	3,100	13	3,377	14	3,300	15	3,307	16	46.0
Malignant neoplasms of breast (C50)	2,968	15	3,255	15	3,248	16	3,203	17	74.7
Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)	2,309	18	2,177	19	2,695	19	2,862	18	87.6
Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49)	2,346	17	2,396	17	2,722	18	2,673	19	89.1
Parkinson's disease (G20)	1,714	23	2,101	20	2,455	21	2,599	20	83.7
All causes	159,170	na	166,561	na	183,131	na	187,268	na	82.0

na not applicable

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2015 and 2019, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Age-standardised death rates

Age-standardised death rates (SDRs) enable the comparison of mortality patterns over time as they account for changes in the size and age structure of the population. For more information on age-standardised death rates, refer to the Data Processing – Methods for cause of death analysis section of the methodology.

Between 2015 and 2024:

The age-standardised death rate for ischaemic heart diseases decreased to its lowest since official cause of death statistics began collection in 1968 (43.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024).
While the number of deaths due to dementia increased over the 10-year period, the age-standardised death rate for dementia has been more stable, reflecting an ageing population.
The rate of deaths due to cerebrovascular diseases decreased by 17.8%.
While deaths due to chronic lower respiratory diseases and lung cancer both increased in number, the standardised death rate for these causes decreased by 11.7% and 17.8%, respectively.

Leading causes of death, age-standardised death rates, 2015–2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)
2015	40.50	67.00	27.80	35.90	30.70
2016	41.70	63.40	27.40	34.20	29.70
2017	42.50	61.00	28.00	32.60	28.10
2018	42.30	56.70	25.70	31.30	28.70
2019	43.90	55.10	26.10	29.70	28.10
2020	41.50	50.10	21.70	27.90	26.30
2021	43.50	50.50	22.90	27.90	26.40
2022	45.20	52.90	24.40	27.10	26.70
2023	43.10	46.90	23.10	25.30	25.60
2024	43.50	43.40	24.60	23.90	25.20

Leading causes of death, age-standardised death rates, 2015–2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)

["","Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)","Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)","Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)","Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)","Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)"]

[["2015","2016","2017","2018","2019","2020","2021","2022","2023","2024"],[[40.5],[41.7],[42.5],[42.3],[43.9],[41.5],[43.5],[45.2],[43.1],[43.5]],[[67],[63.4],[61],[56.7],[55.1],[50.1],[50.5],[52.9],[46.9],[43.4]],[[27.8],[27.4],[28],[25.7],[26.1],[21.7],[22.9],[24.4],[23.1],[24.6]],[[35.9],[34.2],[32.6],[31.3],[29.7],[27.9],[27.9],[27.1],[25.3],[23.9]],[[30.7],[29.7],[28.1],[28.7],[28.1],[26.3],[26.4],[26.7],[25.6],[25.2]]]

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Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Years of potential life lost

Years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a measure of premature mortality which weights age at death to gain an estimate of how many years a person would have lived had they not died prematurely. Causes of death with a younger median age at death will have a higher number of YPLL. The ABS methodology defines a "premature death" as one, where the person was aged between 1-78 years at the time of death. For more information on years of potential life lost, refer to the Data Processing – Methods for cause of death analysis section of the methodology.

In 2024:

Suicide was the leading cause of premature death, accounting for the highest number of potential years of life lost (107,327). People who died by suicide had a median age at death of 46.0 years.
Ischaemic heart diseases had the highest number of deaths occurring in those aged under 79, but the second highest number of YPLL at 72,528 years. People who died from ischaemic heart disease had a median age at death of 83.0 years.
People who died from accidental poisoning, lung cancer and transport accidents had the 3rd, 4th and 5th highest YPLL, with median ages of 46.1, 75.2 and 45.3 years, respectively.

Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) for leading causes, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
Underlying cause of death	YPLL (years)
Event of undetermined intent (Y10-Y34)	9,598
Melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin (C43-C44)	10,591
Cardiomyopathy (I42)	11,060
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)	11,119
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)	11,373
Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)	16,003
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	22,218
Malignant neoplasm of brain (C71)	22,736
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	24,572
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	27,150
Malignant neoplasms of breast (C50)	27,565
Diabetes (E10-E14)	27,590
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	32,652
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	35,207
Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver (K70-K76)	35,902
Land transport accidents (V01-V89, Y85)	47,204
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	51,144
Accidental poisoning (X40-X49)	51,985
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	72,528
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	107,327

Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) for leading causes, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)

["Underlying cause of death","YPLL (years)"]

[["Event of undetermined intent (Y10-Y34)","Melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin  (C43-C44)","Cardiomyopathy (I42)","Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)","Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)","Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)","Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)","Malignant neoplasm of brain (C71)","Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)","Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)","Malignant neoplasms of breast (C50)","Diabetes (E10-E14)","Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)","Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)","Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver (K70-K76)","Land transport accidents (V01-V89, Y85)","Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)","Accidental poisoning (X40-X49)","Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)","Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)"],[[9598],[10591],[11060],[11119],[11373],[16003],[22218],[22736],[24572],[27150],[27565],[27590],[32652],[35207],[35902],[47204],[51144],[51985],[72528],[107327]]]

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Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
For information on YPLL see the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by sex - Males

For the 98,467 males who died in 2024:

Ischaemic heart diseases were the leading cause of death (10,153 deaths). While it remains considerably higher than the second ranked cause (dementia at 6,602 deaths), the rate ratio has narrowed over time. For example, ten years ago, the rate of ischaemic heart diseases was over two and half times higher than that of dementia. In 2024, the mortality rate of ischaemic heart diseases was 1.6 times higher than that of dementia.
Prostate cancer was the sixth leading cause overall and second leading cause of cancer deaths with 3,835 deaths.
COVID-19 was the 13th leading cause of death (2,145 deaths), down from tenth in 2023 (2,646 deaths).
Suicide remained the 11th leading cause. Over three-quarters (76.5%) of people who died by suicide were male. Deaths due to suicide were the second highest ranked external cause of death in males.

For males from 2015 to 2024:

The death rate for ischaemic heart diseases decreased by 31.5%.
The death rate for dementia, including Alzheimer's disease increased by 8.5%.

Top 20 leading causes of death, males, Australia - selected years - 2015, 2019, 2023, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	2015		2019		2023		2024		Rank (2024)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	no.	Rate	no.	Rate	no.	Rate	no.	Rate	Rank (2024)
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	11,184	89.4	10,633	75.1	10,442	65.0	10,153	61.3	1
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	4,384	35.7	5,498	39.1	6,114	37.5	6,602	38.7	2
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	4,996	39.2	5,151	35.7	5,201	31.8	5,244	31.2	3
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	4,126	33.1	4,244	29.8	4,233	25.9	4,572	27.0	4
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	4,367	35.3	4,096	29.2	4,104	25.4	4,079	24.4	5
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	3,201	25.7	3,603	25.3	3,726	22.7	3,835	22.5	6
Diabetes (E10-E14)	2,486	19.9	2,733	19.3	3,300	20.4	3,304	19.9	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	2,536	20.2	2,767	19.5	3,024	18.7	3,043	18.2	8
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	2,946	23.3	2,920	20.5	2,886	18.1	2,898	17.6	9
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	1,450	11.7	1,904	13.6	2,484	15.3	2,613	15.5	10
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	2,336	19.7	2,546	20.1	2,479	18.4	2,529	18.3	11
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	1,556	12.6	1,736	12.3	2,122	13.0	2,216	13.1	12
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)	na	na	na	na	2,646	16.2	2,145	12.6	13
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	1,438	11.2	1,686	11.7	1,944	12.0	2,012	12.0	14
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	1,511	12.2	1,528	10.9	1,843	11.4	1,938	11.5	15
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)	1,329	10.7	1,656	11.8	1,388	8.7	1,718	10.3	16
Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver (K70-K76)	1,241	9.7	1,360	9.8	1,602	10.6	1,650	10.7	17
Parkinson's disease (G20)	1,070	8.8	1,346	9.6	1,569	9.6	1,649	9.7	18
Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)	1,224	9.5	1,448	10.0	1,558	9.6	1,559	9.3	19
Melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin (C43-C44)	1,459	11.6	1,397	9.8	1,569	9.8	1,544	9.2	20

na not applicable

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2015 and 2019, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by sex - Females

For the 88,801 females who died in 2024:

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease was the leading cause of death (10,947 deaths), with close to two-thirds (62.4%) of people dying from the disease being female. Dementia has been the leading cause of death for females since 2016.
Ischaemic heart diseases were the second leading cause with 6,122 deaths.
COVID-19 was the 14th leading cause of death (1,880 deaths), down from 11th in 2023 (2,360 deaths).
Breast cancer was the sixth leading cause overall and second leading cause of cancer deaths with 3,178 deaths. Breast cancer was the leading cause of premature death for females, accounting for 26,862 years of potential life lost.
Accidental falls were the 9th leading cause of death and the leading cause of external death. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.

For females from 2015 to 2024:

The death rate for dementia increased by 8.2%.
The death rate for ischaemic heart diseases decreased by 42.1%.

Top 20 leading causes of death, females, Australia - selected years - 2015, 2019, 2023, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	2015		2019		2023		2024		Rank (2024)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	no.	Rate	no.	Rate	no.	Rate	no.	Rate	Rank (2024)
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	8,257	43.3	9,656	46.8	10,575	46.9	10,947	46.8	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	8,742	48.0	7,368	37.7	6,613	31.1	6,122	27.8	2
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	6,504	35.7	5,764	29.6	5,271	24.8	5,068	23.2	3
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	3,899	24.0	4,149	23.2	4,155	20.9	4,657	22.6	4
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	3,482	23.7	3,603	21.8	3,784	20.2	3,875	20.2	5
Malignant neoplasms of breast (C50)	2,940	20.2	3,224	20.0	3,209	17.7	3,178	17.2	6
Diabetes (E10-E14)	2,209	13.2	2,245	12.3	2,666	13.2	2,661	12.7	7
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	1,894	10.4	1,979	10.0	2,417	11.1	2,594	11.6	8
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	1,821	9.9	2,021	10.0	2,465	11.2	2,566	11.2	9
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	2607	16.8	2468	14.2	2,606	13.7	2,489	12.6	10
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	2,049	10.8	1,993	9.8	2,206	9.8	2,319	10.0	11
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	1,887	12.3	2,011	11.6	2,101	10.8	2,120	10.6	12
Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)	1,742	9.3	2,200	10.9	1,518	7.0	1,947	8.7	13
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)	0	na	0	na	2,360	10.9	1,880	8.4	14
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	1,332	8.7	1,498	8.8	1,788	9.4	1,861	9.6	15
Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)	1,471	7.8	1,348	6.6	1,637	7.3	1,677	7.3	16
Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49)	1,487	7.8	1,453	7.0	1,693	7.5	1,623	6.9	17
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99)	860	5.0	897	4.8	1,079	5.2	1,103	5.2	18
Malignant neoplasm of ovary (C56)	931	6.3	1075	6.6	1,047	5.9	1,045	5.6	19
Nonrheumatic valve disorders (I34-I38)	899	4.9	923	4.6	857	3.9	996	4.4	20

na not applicable

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2015 and 2019, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by state of usual residence

The leading cause of death profile for Australia is not the same across all jurisdictions. The tables below show the top 10 leading causes of death for each state and territory in 2024.

In 2024:

Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease was the leading cause of death in each jurisdiction except for Tasmania and the Northern Territory, where ischaemic heart diseases remained the leading cause.
In both Tasmania and the Northern Territory, the second leading causes of death (dementia and diabetes respectively) were very close in number to ischaemic heart diseases. Due to the complexities in coding and tabulating mortality data, these causes should both be considered major contributors to the mortality burden in these jurisdictions.
Deaths from external causes contribute to a greater proportion of mortality in the Northern Territory when compared with other jurisdictions. Intentional self-harm and land transport accidents were the sixth and seventh ranked leading causes.
Diabetes was the second leading cause of death in the Northern Territory. 8.4% of all deaths in the Northern Territory were due to diabetes, compared with 3.2% nationally.
The 3rd to 5th leading causes of death were the same diseases in all jurisdictions except for the Northern Territory, with some differences in rankings.

New South Wales Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	State/territory leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	5,593	1	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	4,982	2	2
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	3,060	3	3
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	3,056	4	4
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	2,837	5	5
Diabetes (E10-E14)	1,948	6	6
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	1,758	7	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	1,715	8	9
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	1,516	9	10
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	1,399	10	11

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Data in this table reflect deaths registered with a usual residence in New South Wales.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Victoria Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	State/territory leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	3,838	1	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	3,773	2	2
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	2,182	3	4
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	2,150	4	5
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	2,031	5	3
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	1,612	6	8
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	1,498	7	10
Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	1,461	8	11
Diabetes (E10-E14)	1,369	9	6
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	1,363	10	7

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Data in this table reflect deaths registered with a usual residence in Victoria.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Queensland Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	State/territory leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	3,823	1	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	3,546	2	2
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	2,126	3	5
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	2,076	4	3
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	1,959	5	4
Diabetes (E10-E14)	1,196	6	6
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	1,116	7	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	1,020	8	9
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	930	9	8
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	857	10	14

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Data in this table reflect deaths registered with a usual residence in Queensland.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

South Australia Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	State/territory leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	1,702	1	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	1,475	2	2
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	774	3	3
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	748	4	5
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	674	5	4
Diabetes (E10-E14)	540	6	6
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	449	7	8
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	431	8	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	397	9	9
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)	363	10	12

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Data in this table reflect deaths registered with a usual residence in South Australia.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Western Australia Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	State/territory leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	1,753	1	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	1,686	2	2
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	843	3	5
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	834	4	4
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	778	5	3
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	622	6	8
Diabetes (E10-E14)	573	7	6
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	533	8	9
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	466	9	7
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	418	10	16

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Data in this table reflect deaths registered with a usual residence in Western Australia.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Tasmania Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	State/territory leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	526	1	2
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	501	2	1
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	340	3	3
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	267	4	5
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	261	5	4
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	181	6	8
Diabetes (E10-E14)	162	7	6
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	162	7	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	154	9	9
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	128	10	14

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Data in this table reflect deaths registered with a usual residence in Tasmania.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Northern Territory Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	State/territory leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	113	1	2
Diabetes (E10-E14)	104	2	6
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	68	3	3
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	61	4	5
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	53	5	1
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	52	6	16
Land transport accidents (V01-V89, Y85)	51	7	33
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	44	8	4
Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15)	38	9	18
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	36	10	10

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Data in this table reflect deaths registered with a usual residence in Northern Territory.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Australian Capital Territory Top 10 leading causes of death, state of usual residence, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	State/territory leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	284	1	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	170	2	2
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	133	3	4
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	100	4	3
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	84	5	5
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	74	6	9
Diabetes (E10-E14)	71	7	6
COVID-19 (U07.1-U07.2, U10.9)	68	8	12
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	62	9	7
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	59	10	13

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Data in this table reflect deaths registered with a usual residence in Australian Capital Territory.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by remoteness

The leading cause of death profile in Australia varies by remoteness. Remoteness Areas divide Australia into five classes of remoteness which are characterised by a measure of relative geographic access to services. The tables below show the top 10 leading causes of death for each remoteness area in 2024.

In 2024:

Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease was the leading cause of death in Major Cities and Inner Regional Australia.
Ischaemic heart diseases were the leading cause of death in Outer Regional Australia, Remote Australia and Very Remote Australia.
Intentional self-harm (suicide) was the sixth leading cause of death in Remote Australia and Very Remote Australia.

Major cities of Australia Top 10 leading causes of death, remoteness areas, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	Rate	Remoteness Area leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	12,442	45.1	1	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	10,446	40.7	2	2
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	5,998	22.9	3	4
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	5,566	23.0	4	5
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	5,242	20.6	5	3
Diabetes (E10-E14)	3,755	14.8	6	6
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	3,440	12.8	7	8
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	3,419	14.0	8	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	3,357	13.5	9	9
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	3,224	12.0	10	10
All causes	121,470	481.0	na	na

na not applicable

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Remoteness area geography is based on area of usual residence. Deaths have been aligned to geography based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Remoteness Area structure.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Inner regional Australia Top 10 leading causes of death, remoteness areas, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	Rate	Remoteness Area leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	3,620	41.3	1	1
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	3,560	43.9	2	2
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	2,480	29.8	3	3
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	2,280	28.5	4	5
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	2,126	25.6	5	4
Diabetes (E10-E14)	1,311	16.4	6	6
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	1,301	16.6	7	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	1,243	15.3	8	9
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	1,214	14.0	9	8
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	1,072	12.5	10	10
All causes	42,819	543.3	na	na

na not applicable

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Remoteness area geography is based on area of usual residence. Deaths have been aligned to geography based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Remoteness Area structure.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Outer regional Australia Top 10 leading causes of death, remoteness areas, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	Rate	Remoteness Area leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	1,808	55.1	1	2
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	1,326	37.8	2	1
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	1,255	36.5	3	3
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	1,042	30.6	4	5
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	859	25.5	5	4
Diabetes (E10-E14)	658	20.0	6	6
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	582	17.9	7	7
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)	495	15.0	8	9
Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	448	13.0	9	8
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	429	12.3	10	14
All causes	18,924	585.7	na	na

na not applicable

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Remoteness area geography is based on area of usual residence. Deaths have been aligned to geography based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Remoteness Area structure.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Remote Australia Top 10 leading causes of death, remoteness areas, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	Rate	Remoteness Area leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	196	55.8	1	2
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	146	41.0	2	3
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	120	32.1	3	5
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	113	34.3	4	1
Diabetes (E10-E14)	95	27.7	5	6
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	71	23.6	6	16
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	61	17.8	7	4
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0)	54	15.7	8	7
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	46	13.1	9	14
Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	45	12.0	10	13
All causes	1,951	567.7	na	na

na not applicable

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Remoteness area geography is based on area of usual residence. Deaths have been aligned to geography based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Remoteness Area structure.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Very remote Australia Top 10 leading causes of death, remoteness areas, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code	No. of deaths	Rate	Remoteness Area leading cause ranking	Australia leading cause ranking
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	145	85.3	1	2
Diabetes (E10-E14)	114	66.9	2	6
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	92	55.7	3	3
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	86	45.0	4	5
Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	58	34.0	5	4
Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	51	25.4	6	16
Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	43	25.4	7	10
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	38	29.3	8	1
Land transport accidents (V01-V89, Y85)	30	15.3	9	33
Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)	25	13.6	10	22
Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	25	17.4	10	14
All causes	1,268	755.2	na	na

na not applicable

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Remoteness area geography is based on area of usual residence. Deaths have been aligned to geography based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Remoteness Area structure.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death - historical trends

The table below presents a time series of leading causes of death for selected years from 1968 to 2024.

Deaths due to ischaemic heart diseases were the leading cause of death from 1968 to 2023. Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of death in 2024.
Between 1968 and 1978, ischaemic heart diseases accounted for 30% of all deaths. This compares to 8.7% in 2024.
In 1968 dementia, including Alzheimer's disease contributed to 0.2% of all deaths, compared to 9.4% in 2024. Dementia first appeared in the top 5 leading causes of death in 2006.
Influenza and pneumonia last appeared in the top 5 leading causes of death in 1970. While the number of deaths has remained relatively stable across years, their relative contribution to all deaths has decreased due to Australia’s growing population and improvements in medical and health care. In more recent years, the ranking of influenza and pneumonia can be dependent on the severity of an influenza season.
Land transport accidents consistently ranked in the top 5 leading causes from 1968 until 1978. In 2024, land transport accidents were the 33rd ranked leading cause of death.
Since the 1970's, deaths due to lung cancer have consistently accounted for 4% to 6% of deaths each year.

Top 5 leading causes of death, Australia - selected years (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
Year	Cause of death and ICD code	No.	Rank in 1968	Rank in 2024	% of all deaths
1968
	Ischaemic heart diseases (410-413)	33,411	1	2	30.5
	Cerebrovascular diseases (430-434, 436-438)	15,363	2	4	14.0
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (490-493, 518)	3,706	3	3	3.4
	Land transport accidents (E800-E827)	3,588	4	33	3.3
	Influenza and pneumonia (470-474, 480-486)	3,275	5	15	3.0
	All causes	109,547			100
1977
	Ischaemic heart diseases (410-413)	32,675	1	2	30.0
	Cerebrovascular diseases (430-434, 436-438)	14,530	2	4	13.4
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (490-493, 518)	4,369	3	3	4.0
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (162)	4,326	6	5	4.0
	Land transport accidents (E800-E827)	4,010	4	33	3.7
	All causes	108,790			100
1986
	Ischaemic heart disease (410-414)	32,003	1	2	27.8
	Cerebrovascular disease (430-438)	12,491	2	4	10.9
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (162)	5,702	6	5	5.0
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (490-496)	5,554	3	3	4.8
	Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (153-154)	4,132	8	7	3.6
	All causes	114,981			100
1996
	Ischaemic heart disease (410-414)	29,637	1	2	23.0
	Cerebrovascular disease (430-438)	12,806	2	4	9.9
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (490-496)	6,961	3	3	5.4
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (162)	6,827	6	5	5.3
	Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (153-154)	4,618	8	7	3.6
	All causes	128,719			100
2006
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	23,132	1	2	17.3
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	11,480	2	4	8.6
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	7,353	6	5	5.5
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	6,550	40	1	4.9
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	5,463	3	3	4.1
	All causes	133,755			100
2015
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	19,926	1	2	12.5
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	12,641	40	1	7.9
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	10,871	2	4	6.8
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	8,478	6	5	5.3
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	8,025	3	3	5.0
	All causes	159,170			100
2023
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	17,055	1	2	9.3
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	16,689	40	1	9.1
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	9,375	2	4	5.1
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	8,985	6	5	4.9
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	8,388	3	3	4.6
	All causes	183,131			100
2024
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	17,549	40	1	9.4
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	16,275	1	2	8.7
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	9,229	3	3	4.9
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	9,147	2	4	4.9
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	9,119	6	5	4.9
	All causes	187,268			100

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes preliminary revised data for 2023, preliminary data for 2024 and final data for other years.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) undergoes periodic revisions by the World Health Organization to reflect changes in medical terminology, medical knowledge and death certification. Although large disease groups can be mapped between different versions of the ICD there may be slight differences in disease groupings between versions.
Registration years 1968-1978 have been coded to ICD-8; Registration years 1979-1996 have been coded to ICD-9; Registration years 1997-2023 have been coded to ICD-10.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Overview of key all-cause mortality indicators (sex and age)

All-cause mortality by sex

To show the mortality pattern over the last decade, age-standardised death rates (SDRs) are presented below for males, females and persons. More information about deaths for Australia, states and territories, and sub-state regions, is available in Deaths, Australia.

In 2024:

There were 187,268 deaths registered with an age-standardised death rate of 507.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
The age-standardised death rate decreased by 1.0% from 2023, after a decrease of 6.3% between 2022 and 2023. The rate in 2024 is similar to that experienced in 2021 (507.2 deaths per 100,000 people). Mortality rates were at historical lows in 2020 and 2021.
52.6% of deaths were male (98,467) and 47.4% were female (88,801).
Age-standardised death rates decreased for both males (1.0%) and females (1.1%).

Age-standardised death rates for all-cause mortality, by sex, 2015-2024 (a)(b)(c)
	Males	Females	Persons
2015	653.3	464.6	552.5
2016	640.5	449.4	538.3
2017	631.3	448.9	534.1
2018	611.2	431.7	515.5
2019	617.8	437.6	522.1
2020	582.8	410.3	491.2
2021	597.0	427.4	507.2
2022	645.1	460.8	547.6
2023	604.7	431.4	513.0
2024	598.8	426.6	507.8

Age-standardised death rates for all-cause mortality, by sex, 2015-2024 (a)(b)(c)

["","Males","Females","Persons"]

[["2015","2016","2017","2018","2019","2020","2021","2022","2023","2024"],[[653.3000000000001],[640.5000000000001],[631.3000000000001],[611.2],[617.8000000000001],[582.8000000000001],[597.0000000000001],[645.1000000000001],[604.7],[598.8000000000001]],[[464.6000000000001],[449.4],[448.9],[431.7],[437.6000000000001],[410.3],[427.4],[460.8000000000001],[431.4],[426.6000000000001]],[[552.5000000000001],[538.3000000000001],[534.1000000000001],[515.5000000000001],[522.1000000000001],[491.2000000000001],[507.2000000000001],[547.6000000000001],[513.0000000000001],[507.8000000000001]]]

[]

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[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Rate(a)","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

All-cause mortality by age

Deaths data is presented in the tables below as age-specific death rates (ASDRs) for selected age groups for males, females and persons.

In 2024:

Age-specific death rates decreased from 2023 in those younger than 25 years (down 1.8%) and those aged over 65 years (down 0.8%).
The greatest proportionate decrease in the age-specific death rate occurred for females aged 25 to 44 years (a decrease of 5.8% compared with 2023).
The largest proportionate increase was for males aged 25 to 44 years (an increase of 4.4% compared with 2023).
Death rates for those aged less than 25 years were the lowest in the 10-year time series (30.2 deaths per 100,000 people). This was also the case for males aged less than 25 years and females aged 25 to 44 years.
The highest age-specific death rate was for males aged over 85 years (14,036.9 deaths per 100,000 people) and females aged over 85 years (12,508.9 deaths per 100,000 people). Over half (55.7%) of all deaths were of people aged 80 years and older.
The median age at death by registration year was 82.0 years (79.6 for males and 84.7 for females).

All persons age-specific death rates for all-cause mortality, by age group, 2015-2024 (a)(b)(c)
Age (years)	0-24	25-44	45-64	65-84	85+	All ages
2015	34.4	81.6	363.0	2,123.8	13,701.2	668.3
2016	33.1	80.6	353.7	2,061.1	13,334.1	658.0
2017	33.5	78.6	348.0	2,031.8	13,442.1	658.9
2018	32.4	74.5	348.9	1,955.5	12,897.1	641.3
2019	33.9	75.8	352.1	1,963.2	13,291.1	657.4
2020	31.9	73.2	334.9	1,854.3	12,415.9	628.9
2021	33.1	71.7	340.1	1,919.4	13,059.2	667.6
2022	32.5	76.8	363.5	2,081.3	14,379.2	734.2
2023	30.7	72.3	346.3	1,980.4	13,204.0	687.5
2024	30.2	72.9	349.7	1,951.9	13,123.1	688.4

Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Male age-specific death rates for all-cause mortality, by age group, 2015-2024 (a)(b)(c)
Age (years)	0-24	25-44	45-64	65-84	85+	All ages
2015	41.6	108.4	457.5	2,528.2	14,775.8	688.2
2016	41.1	104.9	445.5	2,478.4	14,515.9	685.4
2017	40.7	105.2	437.0	2,430.1	14,535.8	684.8
2018	40.5	99.2	436.1	2,352.0	14,028.8	672.1
2019	42.0	101.3	446.3	2,359.2	14,358.6	689.2
2020	39.3	97.4	422.4	2,245.7	13,449.2	664.5
2021	40.4	94.6	426.3	2,312.5	14,050.5	701.2
2022	38.5	102.2	455.0	2,531.1	15,415.3	774.2
2023	37.9	93.8	435.3	2,401.0	14,186.2	727.2
2024	36.5	97.9	442.1	2,366.7	14,036.9	729.1

Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Female age-specific death rates for all-cause mortality, by age group, 2015-2024 (a)(b)(c)
Age (years)	0-24	25-44	45-64	65-84	85+	All ages
2015	26.9	54.9	271.7	1,748.4	13,079.4	648.7
2016	24.7	56.5	265.4	1,673.1	12,636.1	631.0
2017	25.9	52.2	262.5	1,661.8	12,784.8	633.5
2018	24.0	49.9	265.0	1,587.8	12,206.5	611.0
2019	25.3	50.6	261.4	1,597.4	12,629.4	626.1
2020	24.0	49.3	250.7	1,493.7	11,764.7	593.7
2021	25.4	49.1	256.7	1,558.1	12,423.1	634.4
2022	26.0	51.5	275.1	1,669.2	13,700.2	694.9
2023	23.1	50.8	260.4	1,597.0	12,552.4	648.3
2024	23.4	47.9	260.7	1,575.1	12,508.9	648.2

Age-specific death rate. Deaths for an age group per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age group as at 30 June.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Causes of death for an ageing population

In 2024, 68.2% of deaths occurred in people aged 75 years and over. This was an increase compared with ten years ago (2015) and twenty years ago (2005) when 66.1% and 63.3% of deaths occurred in this age group respectively.

This reflects the ageing population in Australia. In 2024, the estimated resident population of people aged 75 years and older has increased by 40% from 2015 and 75.0% from 2005.

As the population ages, patterns of mortality are changing. While the leading causes of death for those aged over 75 years closely resemble the leading causes for the population overall, some diseases present differently across this cohort. Mortality in this age group has become more complex – for example, as medical interventions improve, people may live longer with multiple chronic conditions. Around 80% of people aged over 75 years, had more than one disease or condition listed on their death certificate as contributing to or causing death. The leading causes of death for males and females aged over 75 years in 2024 are presented below. Further analysis on dementia, ischaemic heart diseases and accidental falls is also presented.

Males 75 years and over

For males in 2024:

Dementia was the leading cause of death for those aged over 85 years.
Lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases were the 3rd and 4th leading causes of death respectively for those aged 75-84. They were not in the top 5 leading causes for those aged over 85 years.
The top 5 leading causes of death for those aged 75-84 years accounted for around one-third of total deaths in those age groups.
In males aged over 95 years the top 6 leading causes of death accounted for close to half of the deaths in that age group.

Male - Top 5 leading causes of death by age groups 75 years and over, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
Cause of death and ICD code		Number of deaths	Proportion (%)of total deaths for age group
75 years and over
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	6,195	10.0
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	6,145	9.9
	Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	3,020	4.9
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	3,013	4.9
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	3,010	4.9
75-84 years
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	2,731	9.4
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	2,056	7.1
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	1,812	6.3
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	1,688	5.8
	Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	1,339	4.6
85-94 years
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	3,363	12.2
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	2,798	10.2
	Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	1,470	5.3
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	1,394	5.1
	Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	1,136	4.1
95 years and over
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	726	13.7
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	666	12.6
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	296	5.6
	Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	295	5.6
	Diseases of the urinary system (N00-N39)	237	4.5
	Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	237	4.5

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Females 75 years and over

For females in 2024:

Dementia is the leading cause of death in all age groups over 75 years.
For those aged over 75 years, dementia caused more than twice the number of deaths than ischaemic heart disease which was the second leading cause.
Close to 1 in 5 deaths in females aged over 95 years was due to dementia.
Chronic lower respiratory diseases were the second leading cause of death for females aged between 75-84 years.

Female - Top 5 leading causes of death by age groups 75 years and over, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
Cause of death and ICD code		Number of deaths	Proportion (%)of total deaths for age group
75 years and over
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	10,475	15.9
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	5,052	7.7
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	4,223	6.4
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	3,258	4.9
	Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	2,355	3.6
75-84 years
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	2,491	11.1
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	1,540	6.8
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	1,338	5.9
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	1,301	5.8
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	1,285	5.7
85-94 years
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	5,706	17.8
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	2,600	8.1
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	2,189	6.8
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	1,377	4.3
	Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	1,224	3.8
95 years and over
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	2,278	19.8
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	1,151	10.0
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	749	6.5
	Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51)	575	5.0
	Accidental falls including fractures (W00-W19, X59.0)	556	4.8

Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)

Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease is now Australia’s leading cause of death. Deaths due to dementia have been steadily increasing over time, with a corresponding decrease in deaths due to ischaemic heart diseases. In 2023 there was more detail published on the changing patterns in deaths from ischaemic heart diseases and dementia including Alzheimer's disease in Ischaemic heart disease and Dementia – understanding change over time.

For those aged 75 years and older:

In 2024, there were 16,620 deaths from dementia, including Alzheimer's disease in this age group. This was an increase of 39.0% compared with 2015 (11,956 deaths).
Dementia was the leading cause of death, with around 95% of deaths due to dementia occurring in people aged over 75 years.
The increase in deaths due to dementia from 2015 to 2024 was greater for males (an increase of 52.8%) than for females (an increase of 32.0%).
The age-specific death rate (75 years and over) for dementia decreased to 767.1 deaths per 100,000 people from 772.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2015. The decrease in crude rate during this time is because the population for this age group increased by 40.0%, while the numbers of deaths due to dementia increased by 39.0%.
As there have been large changes to age structure in this cohort, age-standardisation is recommended for measuring change over time. For example, there has been a 66.3% increase in those aged over 95 years between 2015 and 2024. When adjusted for age structure and population size, the age-standardised rate for dementia deaths in people aged over 75 years increased by 4.4% over the last decade.
Most deaths due to dementia in 2024 were for females (63.0%). This proportion decreased slightly from 2015 when females made up 66.4% of deaths from dementia.
Approximately 80% of people who died from dementia had other diseases and conditions listed on the death certificate. Conditions commonly occurring with dementia were kidney and urinary diseases, pneumonia, hypertension and ischaemic heart diseases.

For dementia information and support please contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500.

Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)

Accidental falls (W00-W19, X59.0)

The largest proportional increase in a cause of death from the top ten leading causes over the last decade was for accidental fall deaths (including fractures with an unspecified external cause). Accidental falls were the leading external cause of death and were the 8th leading cause overall. The median age for people who died due to an accidental fall was 87.8 years in 2024. In 2024, 'X59.0 Exposure to unspecified factor causing fracture' was added to Accidental falls. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.

For people aged 75 years and over:

In 2024, there were 4,559 deaths from accidental falls. They were the sixth leading cause of death for this age group, an increase of 61.5%, from 2015, when they were the 10th leading cause.
88% of deaths from accidental falls in 2024 occurred in those aged over 75 years.
The increase from 2015 to 2024 in accidental fall deaths was greater for males (an increase of 91.0%) compared with females (an increase of 41.1%).
The age-specific death rate increased 15.4% from 182.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2015 to 210.4 per 100,000 in 2024. When adjusted for age-structure and population size over time, the age-standardised death rate was 20.1% higher over the same time frame.
There was a greater increase in the age-specific death rate for males (increasing 30.0% from 172.8 in 2015 to 224.6 in 2024) than for females (increasing 4.7% from 189.7 in 2015 to 198.7 in 2024). However, there remained more female than male deaths from accidental falls in both years.
For males, intracranial injuries (e.g. bleeding to the brain) were the most common complications resulting from a fall. Hip fractures were the most common injury for females.
People who die by accidental falls are likely to have other diseases listed on the death certificate. Both acute (e.g. infections) and chronic disease can increase the risk of a fall. Circulatory diseases such as hypertension and ischaemic heart diseases are a common pre-existing condition for those 75 years and over who die by falls (present for 1,805 people). Dementia was mentioned as a contributing cause in 1,367 deaths due to falls.

Leading causes of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

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Changes to derivation of Indigenous status for deaths in ABS mortality datasets

The ABS has recently introduced a number of enhancements to the derivation of Indigenous status. This has led to an increased number of deaths of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people and a corresponding decrease in the number of deaths where the Indigenous status is unknown or not stated. These changes have introduced a break in time series in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death statistics in New South Wales (from 2022) and Victoria (from 2023) with a corresponding effect on national data. Caution should be used when interpreting time series data.

For more information on this change and the impacts refer to Technical Note: The impact of using two sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in NSW in 2022 and Technical Note: The impact of using multiple sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in 2023 – changes for Victoria and coroner referred deaths.

Across Australia in 2024, there were 5,603 deaths registered of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (3,134 males and 2,469 females). The table below presents numbers of deaths, crude death rates and age-standardised mortality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in each jurisdiction in 2024. Age-standardised rates enable the comparison of populations with different age structures and size.

Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, all jurisdictions, 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)
		No.	Crude rate(b)	SDR(c)
Persons
	NSW	1,904	531.7	942.4
	Vic	467	557.6	999.1
	Qld	1,466	500.8	945.0
	SA	310	567.5	1,076.6
	WA	704	555.2	1,003.4
	Tas	190	np	np
	NT	529	676.2	1,244.5
	ACT	31	np	np
	Australia(a)	5,603	538.8	974.9
Males
	NSW	1,074	597.6	1,073.6
	Vic	285	674.0	1,229.0
	Qld	807	552.8	1,062.1
	SA	167	607.9	1,191.2
	WA	389	600.9	1,090.7
	Tas	107	np	np
	NT	283	728.1	1,515.8
	ACT	22	np	np
	Australia(a)	3,134	600.5	1,111.0
Females
	NSW	830	465.3	821.4
	Vic	182	438.9	786.5
	Qld	659	449.0	837.9
	SA	143	526.6	977.5
	WA	315	507.5	913.4
	Tas	83	np	np
	NT	246	624.9	1053.1
	ACT	9	np	np
	Australia(a)	2,469	476.6	850.4

np not for publication

Australia total includes Other Territories.
Crude death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
SDRs enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. The current standard population is all persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001.
Rates by Indigenous status use population estimates and projections based on the 2021 Census.
Data is by date of registration.
Deaths registered from 2022 onwards are influenced by the use of additional sources of information for deriving Indigenous status. Refer to the methodology for more information.
Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes preliminary data for 2024.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by five jurisdictions: NSW, Qld, SA, WA and NT

Data reported in the remainder of this article is compiled by jurisdiction of usual residence for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory only. These jurisdictions have been found to have a higher quality of identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin allowing more robust analysis of data over time. Data for Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory is unsuitable for comparisons of changes over time and has been excluded in the remainder of this section. The exception is data by remoteness which includes all jurisdictions, as data on the Estimated Resident Population (ERP) by remoteness is not available by jurisdiction.

Data from 2023 is suitable for analysis for deaths registered in Victoria. Leading causes of death data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people whose death was registered in Victoria in 2024 is available in the data cubes. Data presented in this release may underestimate the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died. See Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the methodology for more information.

Recent improvements in the derivation of Indigenous status by the ABS have resulted in improved identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the National Mortality dataset, most notably from 2022. These changes mean that a higher number of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are identified in the dataset, with a subsequent increase in mortality rates. This should be considered when interpreting time series as increases in recent years are largely administrative.

All-cause mortality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, females and persons are presented in the graph below.

In 2024:

There were 4,913 registered deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the five jurisdictions (NSW, Qld, SA, WA and NT).
The age-standardised mortality rate was 984.5 deaths per 100,000 people, remaining similar to the 2023 rate (983.0 deaths per 100,000 people).
The median age at death was 63.0 years. This has increased by almost 10 years over the last two decades (53.1 years in 2005).

Between 2015 and 2024:

The mortality rate was consistently higher for males compared to females.
The rate ratio ranged between 1.2 to 1.3 male deaths for every female death.
The increase in mortality rates in 2022 was largely due to an improvement in the identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ABS mortality dataset.

Age-standardised death rates for all-cause mortality by sex, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2015-2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)
	Males	Females	Persons
2015	903.6	728.8	812.5
2016	889.3	742.6	813.4
2017	879.5	712.3	792.5
2018	919.4	722.2	816.1
2019	925.9	734.9	826.0
2020	933.5	763.4	844.6
2021	939.9	744.8	837.0
2022	1,104.0⁽¹⁾	914.6	1,006.0
2023	1,113.1⁽²⁾	866.0	983.0
2024	1,110.5	869.1	984.5

(1) Time series break with introduction of MCCD in derivation of Indigenous status in NSW ↵
(2) Introduction of coroner referred information in derivation of Indigenous status ↵

Age-standardised death rates for all-cause mortality by sex, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2015-2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)

["","Males","Females","Persons"]

[["2015","2016","2017","2018","2019","2020","2021","2022","2023","2024"],[[903.6],[889.3000000000001],[879.5000000000001],[919.4],[925.9],[933.5],[939.9],[1104],[1113.1],[1110.5]],[[728.8000000000001],[742.6000000000001],[712.3000000000001],[722.2],[734.9000000000001],[763.4000000000001],[744.8000000000001],[914.6],[866.0000000000001],[869.1000000000001]],[[812.5000000000001],[813.4000000000001],[792.5000000000001],[816.1000000000001],[826.0000000000001],[844.6000000000001],[837.0000000000001],[1006],[983],[984.5]]]

[{"value":"Time series break with<br>introduction of MCCD in<br>derivation of Indigenous<br>status in NSW","annote_text":null,"x_value":"7","y_value":"1104","x_axis":"0","y_axis":"0","x_offset":"0","y_offset":"450","cell_row":"9","cell_column":"2"},{"value":"Introduction of<br>coroner referred<br>information in<br>derivation of<br>Indigenous status","annote_text":null,"x_value":"8","y_value":"1113.1","x_axis":"0","y_axis":"0","x_offset":"0","y_offset":"340","cell_row":"10","cell_column":"2"}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Year(e)","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Rate(b)","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":"600","axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
SDRs enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. The current standard population is all persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001.
Rates by Indigenous status use population estimates and projections based on the 2021 Census.
Data is by date of registration.
Deaths registered from 2022 onwards are influenced by the use of additional sources of information for deriving Indigenous status. Refer to the methodology for more information.
Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This graph includes final data for 2015-2021, revised data for 2022, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by sex

In 2024:

Four of the top 5 leading causes of death were the same for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females. They were ischaemic heart diseases, chronic lower respiratory diseases, diabetes and lung cancer.
For males, the leading cause of death was ischaemic heart diseases (309 deaths) and the second leading cause was intentional self-harm (217 deaths).
For females, the leading cause of death was chronic lower respiratory diseases (187 deaths), followed by diabetes (173 deaths).
Chronic lower respiratory diseases were the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females for the first time. Historically, the leading cause of death for females has been ischaemic heart diseases or diabetes.

Between 2015 and 2024:

The top 5 leading causes remained the same across the period (ischaemic heart diseases, diabetes, chronic lower respiratory diseases, lung cancer and intentional self-harm) with some changes in rankings. The top 5 leading causes of death accounted for over one-third of all deaths.
The rate of deaths due to ischaemic heart diseases decreased over the ten-year period for both males and females.

Number of deaths, Top 5 leading causes of death by sex, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 2015, 2019 and 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code		2015	2019	2024
Persons
	All causes	2,876	3,435	4,913
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	404	413	472
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	176	271	369
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	197	244	332
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	154	205	329
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	154	195	271
Males
	All causes	1,589	1,885	2,720
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	264	260	309
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	111	137	217
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	88	111	186
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	91	129	182
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	96	106	159
Females
	All causes	1,287	1,550	2,193
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	85	142	187
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	101	138	173
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	140	153	163
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	66	94	143
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	47	64	111

Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Data is by date of registration.
Deaths registered from 2022 onwards are influenced by the use of additional sources of information for deriving Indigenous status. See Data quality considerations in the Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people section of the methodology.
Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2015-2021, revised data for 2022, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Crude death rates, Top 5 leading causes of death by sex, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2015, 2019 and 2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code		2015	2019	2024
Persons
	All causes	372.3	412.5	539.6
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	52.3	49.6	51.8
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	22.8	32.5	40.5
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	25.5	29.3	36.5
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	19.9	24.6	36.1
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	19.9	23.4	29.8
Males
	All causes	410.6	451.4	595.5
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	68.2	62.3	67.6
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	28.7	32.8	47.5
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	22.7	26.6	40.7
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	23.5	30.9	39.8
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	24.8	25.4	34.8
Females
	All causes	333.8	373.4	483.3
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	22.0	34.2	41.2
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	26.2	33.2	38.1
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	36.3	36.9	35.9
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	17.1	22.6	31.5
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	12.2	15.4	24.5

Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Top 5 leading causes are ranked based on the number of deaths for each cause group.
Crude death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June.
Rates by Indigenous status use population estimates and projections based on the 2021 Census.
Data is by date of registration.
Deaths registered from 2022 onwards are influenced by the use of additional sources of information for deriving Indigenous status. Refer to the methodology for more information.
Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2015-2021, revised data for 2022, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Age-standardised death rates, Top 5 leading causes of death by sex, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2015, 2019, 2024, 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code		2015	2019	2024	2015-2019	2020-2024
Persons
	All causes	812.5	826.0	984.5	812.9	935.9
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	117.8	101.1	99.3	104.0	104.8
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	58.8	74.5	80.9	68.2	73.4
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	63.0	64.0	70.6	67.5	70.4
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	45.5	54.1	66.7	51.4	59.5
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	21.8	24.6	33.7	22.5	28.7
Males
	All causes	903.6	925.9	1,110.50	905.1	1,047.00
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	159.8	128.6	133.6	132.7	139.1
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	33.0	35.8	55.0	34.0	44.5
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	56.2	64.6	83.1	63.1	68.7
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	63.7	81.1	86.0	73.0	78.0
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	60.0	57.5	70.8	64.2	66.3
Females
	All causes	728.8	734.9	869.1	728.5	835.0
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	54.4	70.1	76.7	64.7	69.3
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	64.5	69.3	70.3	69.8	73.7
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	82.3	76.4	69.3	78.6	75.2
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	36.4	45.8	53.1	41.9	51.9
	Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)	46.9	48.9	66.0	50.3	63.4

Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Top 5 leading causes are ranked based on the number of deaths for each cause group.
Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
SDRs enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. The current standard population is all persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001.
Rates by Indigenous status use population estimates and projections based on the 2021 Census.
Data is by date of registration.
Deaths registered from 2022 onwards are influenced by the use of additional sources of information for deriving Indigenous status. Refer to the methodology for more information.
Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2015-2021, revised data for 2022, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by median age

There has been a sustained increase in the median age at death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over time. The following graph shows a 5-year moving average of median age at death for the top 5 leading causes of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2024.

Of note:

Those who died from chronic lower respiratory diseases had the highest median age at death throughout the time series (68.4 years in 2020-2024).
Those who died from intentional self-harm had the lowest median age at death throughout the time series (32.4 years in 2020-2024).
All of the top 5 leading causes have recorded an increase in the median age at death across the time series. The largest increase was for those who died from diabetes, with a median age of 60.0 years in 1997-2001 and 65.9 years in 2020-2024.

Top 5 leading causes of death, median age at death, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 1997-2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	Diabetes (E10-E14)	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	All causes
1997-2001	59.4	65.5	60.0	63.1	26.8	52.5
1998-2002	59.5	65.6	60.7	63.5	27.7	52.9
1999-2003	59.2	65.8	61.8	63.4	28.1	53.3
2000-2004	59.4	66.5	62.6	63.1	28.5	53.8
2001-2005	59.5	66.5	62.5	62.8	28.2	53.8
2002-2006	59.3	66.4	63.5	62.7	28.2	54.0
2003-2007	59.6	66.7	63.4	62.4	27.8	54.5
2004-2008	59.9	67.7	63.6	62.4	27.5	55.1
2005-2009	59.4	67.3	63.0	64.0	27.1	55.3
2006-2010	59.3	67.7	63.1	64.3	27.4	56.1
2007-2011	58.6	67.2	63.1	65.0	27.0	56.5
2008-2012	58.2	67.5	63.3	65.3	27.3	56.8
2009-2013	58.3	67.1	63.3	65.4	27.9	57.1
2010-2014	58.6	67.8	63.3	64.2	28.1	57.5
2011-2015	58.8	67.3	63.9	64.1	28.3	57.7
2012-2016	59.6	68.0	64.1	64.2	28.9	58.3
2013-2017	60.0	67.9	64.5	64.0	29.0	58.8
2014-2018	60.6	68.1	64.6	64.1	29.0	59.3
2015-2019	60.9	67.7	65.1	64.8	29.2	59.9
2016-2020	61.2	68.1	65.1	65.4	29.8	60.6
2017-2021	61.5	68.1	65.0	65.5	30.0	61.1
2018-2022	62.0	68.1	65.4	66.2	30.8	61.7
2019-2023	62.3	68.1	65.9	67.1	31.5	62.3
2020-2024	62.7	68.4	65.9	67.0	32.4	62.7

Top 5 leading causes of death, median age at death, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 1997-2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)

["","Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)","Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)","Diabetes (E10-E14)","Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)","Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)","All causes"]

[["1997-2001","1998-2002","1999-2003","2000-2004","2001-2005","2002-2006","2003-2007","2004-2008","2005-2009","2006-2010","2007-2011","2008-2012","2009-2013","2010-2014","2011-2015","2012-2016","2013-2017","2014-2018","2015-2019","2016-2020","2017-2021","2018-2022","2019-2023","2020-2024"],[[59.4],[59.5],[59.2],[59.4],[59.5],[59.3],[59.6],[59.9],[59.4],[59.3],[58.6],[58.2],[58.3],[58.6],[58.8],[59.6],[60],[60.6],[60.9],[61.2],[61.5],[62],[62.3],[62.7]],[[65.5],[65.6],[65.8],[66.5],[66.5],[66.4],[66.7],[67.7],[67.3],[67.7],[67.2],[67.5],[67.1],[67.8],[67.3],[68],[67.9],[68.1],[67.7],[68.1],[68.1],[68.1],[68.1],[68.4]],[[60],[60.7],[61.8],[62.6],[62.5],[63.5],[63.4],[63.6],[63],[63.1],[63.1],[63.3],[63.3],[63.3],[63.9],[64.1],[64.5],[64.6],[65.1],[65.1],[65],[65.4],[65.9],[65.9]],[[63.1],[63.5],[63.4],[63.1],[62.8],[62.7],[62.4],[62.4],[64],[64.3],[65],[65.3],[65.4],[64.2],[64.1],[64.2],[64],[64.1],[64.8],[65.4],[65.5],[66.2],[67.1],[67]],[[26.8],[27.7],[28.1],[28.5],[28.2],[28.2],[27.8],[27.5],[27.1],[27.4],[27],[27.3],[27.9],[28.1],[28.3],[28.9],[29],[29],[29.2],[29.8],[30],[30.8],[31.5],[32.4]],[[52.5],[52.9],[53.3],[53.8],[53.8],[54],[54.5],[55.1],[55.3],[56.1],[56.5],[56.8],[57.1],[57.5],[57.7],[58.3],[58.8],[59.3],[59.9],[60.6],[61.1],[61.7],[62.3],[62.7]]]

[]

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[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Median age at death (years)","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Data is reported by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only. Data for Vic, Tas and ACT is excluded in line with national reporting guidelines.
Data is by date of registration.
Deaths registered from 2022 onwards are influenced by the use of additional sources of information for deriving Indigenous status. Refer to the methodology for more information.
Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 1997-2021, revised data for 2022, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Leading causes of death by remoteness

The tables below show the number of deaths and age-standardised death rates for the top 5 leading causes of death in for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Australia's Major Cities, Inner and Outer Regional areas, and Remote and Very Remote areas. Classes of remoteness are characterised by a measure of relative geographic access to services (for more information, see Remoteness Areas).

In 2024:

Ischaemic heart diseases were the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia’s Major Cities and Regional areas.
Diabetes was the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Remote and Very Remote Australia, with an age-standardised death rate of 154.0 deaths per 100,000 people compared with 41.8 in Major Cities and 39.6 in Regional areas.
Diabetes was not in the five leading causes of death for those in Major Cities, where it was ranked 6th in 2024 with 89 deaths. Accidental poisoning was the 5th leading cause.
Mortality rates were higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who resided in Remote and Very Remote Australia for all five leading causes of death, compared with Major Cities and Regional Australia.
The age-standardised death rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Remote and Very Remote Australia was 32.8% higher than the rate in Major Cities.

Number of deaths, Top 5 leading causes of death by remoteness, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code		2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Major cities of Australia
	All causes	1,290	1,264	1,747	1,780	1,929
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	134	131	188	170	170
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	82	92	130	108	141
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	88	82	118	121	129
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	73	63	95	119	109
	Accidental poisoning (X40-X49)	70	61	85	81	97
Inner and outer regional Australia(e)
	All causes	1,720	1,724	2,146	2,307	2,498
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	213	176	241	246	231
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	136	143	155	197	224
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	123	125	146	149	188
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	102	101	93	116	129
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	127	113	144	139	115
Remote and very remote Australia(f)
	All causes	967	1,006	1,113	1,102	1,103
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	105	115	115	126	147
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	109	110	166	144	135
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	48	68	49	71	71
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	49	56	53	45	64
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	43	33	39	43	55

Data presented by remoteness areas includes all jurisdictions in Australia. This differs from other leading causes of death data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which is compiled by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and the NT.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Remoteness data is based on area of usual residence aligned to the 2021 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).
This table combines data for Inner Regional Australia and Outer Regional Australia.
This table combines data for Remote Australia and Very Remote Australia.
Data is by date of registration.
Deaths registered from 2022 onwards are influenced by the use of additional sources of information for deriving Indigenous status. See Data quality considerations in the Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people section of the methodology.
Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2020-2021, revised data for 2022, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Age-standardised rates, Top 5 leading causes of death by remoteness, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)(l)(m)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code		2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Major cities of Australia
	All causes	641.5	606.4	794.1	780.9	807.9
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	72.7	67.6	91.3	80.7	78.6
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	46.8	50.5	65.6	53.6	64.2
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	50.8	46.0	62.6	59.2	60.4
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	21.0	17.3	26.2	33.5	31.3
	Accidental poisoning (X40-X49)	23.6	20.5	26.7	25.9	30.1
Inner and outer regional Australia(h)
	All causes	674.0	637.9	772.2	807.2	828.1
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	86.0	69.0	90.3	87.6	78.2
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	59.7	56.8	59.9	71.6	78.0
	Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	51.3	47.8	56.0	54.5	64.4
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	26.1	25.9	25.6	30.0	33.7
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	53.0	43.9	56.3	53.2	39.6
Remote and very remote Australia(i)
	All causes	1,046.4	1,080.8	1,143.1	1,113.1	1,072.8
	Diabetes (E10-E14)	122.5	138.2	129.3	142.3	154.0
	Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)	118.0	115.4	168.3	141.6	131.8
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)	64.9	82.5	51.8	76.5	85.7
	Intentional self-harm [suicide] (X60-X84, Y87.0)	33.0	37.8	35.0	29.6	39.9
	Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69)	48.6	39.8	42.1	48.3	58.4

Data presented by remoteness areas includes all jurisdictions in Australia. This differs from other leading causes of death data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which is compiled by usual residence for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and the NT.
Causes listed are based on the WHO recommended tabulation of leading causes. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.
Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99) is not included in analysis, due to the unspecified nature of these causes. These deaths are also likely to be heavily affected by the revisions process.
Top 5 leading causes are ranked based on the number of deaths for each cause group.
Age-standardised death rate (SDR). Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June as standardised to reflect the population age structure of a standard year.
SDRs enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. The current standard population is all persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001.
Remoteness data is based on area of usual residence aligned to the 2021 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).
This table combines data for Inner regional Australia and Outer regional Australia.
This table combines data for Remote Australia and Very remote Australia.
Data is by date of registration.
Deaths registered from 2022 onwards are influenced by the use of additional sources of information for deriving Indigenous status. See Data quality considerations in the Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people section of the methodology.
Causes of death data for recent years is preliminary and subject to a revisions process. This table includes final data for 2020-2021, revised data for 2022, preliminary revised data for 2023 and preliminary data for 2024.
Refer to the methodology for more information.

Intentional self-harm (suicide) deaths in Australia

From 2024, Causes of Death Australia has been updated to include some topics in separate release items. For data on intentional self-harm (suicide) in Australia in 2024, refer to Intentional self-harm (suicide) deaths, 2024.

Crisis support services

Crisis support services, available 24 hours, 7 days
Organisation	About	Telephone number	Website
Lifeline	Provides access to crisis support and suicide prevention services.	13 11 14	lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back Service	Provides immediate telephone counselling and support in a crisis.	1300 659 467	suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Beyond Blue	Supporting people affected by anxiety, depression and suicide.	1300 224 636	beyondblue.org.au
MensLine Australia	Telephone and online support, information and referral service for men with concerns about family and relationships, mental health, anger management, family violence (using and experiencing), substance abuse and wellbeing. The service is available from anywhere in Australia and is staffed by professional counsellors, experienced in men's issues.	1300 789 978	mensline.org.au
Kids Helpline	Telephone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25.	1800 551 800	kidshelpline.com.au
ReachOut	Online mental health service for under-25s and their parents.		au.reachout.com
National Alcohol and Other Drugs Hotline	Hotline for anyone affected by alcohol or other drugs. Support includes counselling, advice and referral to local services.	1800 250 015
Family Drug Support	Help for individuals and families dealing with drug and alcohol use. Also provide support groups, education programs, counselling and bereavement services for families.	1300 368 186	fds.org.au
1800RESPECT	National domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service.	1800 737 732	1800respect.org.au
13YARN	Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line for people feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping.	13 92 76	13yarn.org.au
StandBy - Support After Suicide	Australia's leading suicide postvention program dedicated to assisting people and communities bereaved or impacted by suicide, including individuals, families, friends, witnesses, first responders and service providers.	1300 727 247	standbysupport.com.au

Data downloads

Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024 data tables

As of 07/05/2026, final 2022 data, revised 2023 data, and a preliminary revision of 2024 data are now available. This data download contains updated time series tables for underlying causes of death, multiple causes of death, deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide), drug-induced deaths and deaths by year of occurrence. These tables are designed to replace data from Causes of Death, Australia 2024 (published 14/11/2025).

For information on the methods and scope of the revisions process, see Methodology: Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024.

Revisions to causes of death, 2022F 2023R 2024PR

Data files

Download xlsx [952.51 KB]

Notes - Data cube changes and additions

Causes of death, Australia, 2024 data cubes

Download all (8.41 MB)

Data files

1. Underlying causes of death (Australia)
Download xlsx [849.2 KB]
2. Underlying causes of death (New South Wales)
Download xlsx [812.42 KB]
3. Underlying causes of death (Victoria)
Download xlsx [841.27 KB]
4. Underlying causes of death (Queensland)
Download xlsx [862.16 KB]
5. Underlying causes of death (South Australia)
Download xlsx [802.77 KB]
6. Underlying causes of death (Western Australia)
Download xlsx [941.21 KB]
7. Underlying causes of death (Tasmania)
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8. Underlying causes of death (Northern Territory)
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9. Underlying causes of death (Australian Capital Territory)
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10. Multiple causes of death (Australia)
Download xlsx [366.27 KB]
11. Intentional self-harm (suicide) (Australia)
Download xlsx [288.1 KB]
12. Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
Download xlsx [190.74 KB]
13. Drug and alcohol-induced deaths (Australia)
Download xlsx [273.14 KB]
14. Causes of death by year of occurrence (Australia)
Download xlsx [2.62 MB]
15. External causes of death (Australia)
Download xlsx [98.29 KB]

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 3303.0

Post release changes

07/05/2026 Revised causes of death data was updated and a new data cube added for deaths registered in the years 2022-2024.

Methodology

Scope

All deaths that occurred and were registered in Australia, including deaths of persons whose place of usual residence was overseas.

Geography

Usual residence data is coded to the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

Source

Death registrations from the state and territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDMs). For deaths certified by a coroner, information is supplemented from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS).

Collection method

Administrative data from:

Death registration statements via funeral directors with family or acquaintances.
Medical Certificates of Cause of Death for doctor certified deaths and various coronial reports for coroner certified deaths.

Concepts, sources and methods

Cause of death information is coded to the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).

The underlying concepts and methods used are available in the methodology.

History of changes

Revised causes of death data for 2022-2024

View full methodology

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APA

Causes of Death, Australia

APA

Key statistics

Revised causes of death data now available

Crisis support services, 24 hours, 7 days

Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024

Leading causes of death

Australia's leading causes of death

Age-standardised death rates

Years of potential life lost

Leading causes of death by sex - Males

Leading causes of death by sex - Females

Leading causes of death by state of usual residence

Leading causes of death by remoteness

Leading causes of death - historical trends

Overview of key all-cause mortality indicators (sex and age)

All-cause mortality by sex

All-cause mortality by age

Causes of death for an ageing population

Males 75 years and over

Females 75 years and over

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30)

Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)

Accidental falls (W00-W19, X59.0)

Leading causes of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Support services, 24 hours, 7 days

Changes to derivation of Indigenous status for deaths in ABS mortality datasets

Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by five jurisdictions: NSW, Qld, SA, WA and NT

Leading causes of death by sex

Leading causes of death by median age

Leading causes of death by remoteness

Intentional self-harm (suicide) deaths in Australia

Crisis support services

Data downloads

Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024 data tables

Revisions to causes of death, 2022F 2023R 2024PR

Notes - Data cube changes and additions

Causes of death, Australia, 2024 data cubes

1. Underlying causes of death (Australia)

2. Underlying causes of death (New South Wales)

3. Underlying causes of death (Victoria)

4. Underlying causes of death (Queensland)

5. Underlying causes of death (South Australia)

6. Underlying causes of death (Western Australia)

7. Underlying causes of death (Tasmania)

8. Underlying causes of death (Northern Territory)

9. Underlying causes of death (Australian Capital Territory)

10. Multiple causes of death (Australia)

11. Intentional self-harm (suicide) (Australia)

12. Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

13. Drug and alcohol-induced deaths (Australia)

14. Causes of death by year of occurrence (Australia)

15. External causes of death (Australia)

Previous catalogue number

Post release changes

Methodology

Scope

Geography

Source

Collection method

Concepts, sources and methods

History of changes

Media releases

Dementia is Australia’s leading cause of death

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