Excess mortality

Latest release

Excess mortality by State from January 2024 to December 2025 using a new methodology

Reference period
January 2024 - December 2025
Released
3/07/2026
Next release Unknown
First release
Release date and time
03/07/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

  • There were 1.7% fewer deaths than expected in 2024 and 2.0% fewer deaths than expected in 2025.
  • Expected mortality now includes COVID-19 affected years in its estimation.
  • In 2025 all states and territories recorded lower than expected mortality.

Overview

Introduction

Excess mortality is typically defined as the difference between the observed number of deaths in a specified time period and the expected numbers of deaths in that same time period. It provides an indication of whether mortality was higher, lower or at expected levels during a given time period. 

Historically, excess mortality methods have been used to assess the impacts of events such as acute respiratory diseases (e.g. influenza), heat waves or natural disasters. Most recently, excess mortality was the most common method used to measure the impact of COVID-19 on mortality trends across the world. 

Excess mortality measures are most often produced at the all-cause level as they can account for differences in cause of death certification (e.g. a death due to "infectious exacerbation of emphysema would be attributed to a chronic respiratory disease if the infectious agent was not known, but attributed to influenza if this was known to cause the exacerbation) and deaths that are both directly and indirectly related to an event (e.g. patterns in access to health care may change during extreme events). 

This publication presents weekly and annual excess mortality estimates for 2024 and 2025 for Australia and the states and territories. 

It is the first publication produced by the ABS where excess mortality estimates are measuring expected mortality in the current health context, i.e. where COVID-19 is included alongside other diseases, conditions and external causes as a persistent contributor to deaths in Australia. 

The ABS has applied a new statistical model (Generalised Additive Model) to produce expected mortality estimates to inform this updated approach. More information can be found in the methodology

Excess mortality estimates produced in this publication cannot be compared to estimates published for 2020-2023 as they are addressing two different research questions as outlined below.

Previous ABS reporting on excess mortality and drivers for change

The ABS has produced previous publications on excess mortality to the end of 2023, and has presented excess mortality by remoteness areas and by selected causes of death.

The previous publications were designed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality in Australia. Specifically, they addressed the research question: 'How does the number of deaths since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2023) compare to the number of deaths expected had the pandemic not occurred?'. This analysis was in the context that COVID-19 constituted a new public health emergency of international concern with significant numbers of deaths being recorded involving the virus occurring in Australia in 2022. The results published in these releases are still important as they demonstrated Australia's mortality experience during the pandemic, including record low mortality levels in 2020 and high excess mortality driven by COVID-19 in 2022.   

On 5 May 2023 the Director-General of the World Health Organization announced an end to the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and on 20 October 2023 Australia's Chief Medical Officer, supported by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee announced that the virus was no longer a communicable disease incident of national significance (https://www.health.gov.au/news/ahppc-statement-end-of-covid-19-emergency-response?language=en). 

This led the ABS to reassess what excess mortality estimates should now be measuring in the Australian context and resulted in the development of an updated research question: "How does the number of deaths that have occurred compare to the number of deaths expected in a context where COVID‑19 is a persistent contributor to mortality?". 

This work does not replace previous outputs on excess mortality but instead presents analysis on more recent patterns of mortality as COVID-19 has transitioned to an endemic status in Australia. More detail on the updates to the research question and the statistical model are discussed in the methodology, but key drivers can be summarised as:

  • COVID-19 is a persistent, ongoing contributor to mortality and should inform our estimates of expected mortality into the future;
  • Deaths due to influenza increased after occurring at record low levels during the pandemic period;
  • The baseline period of 2013-19 which enabled comparisons to mortality "in the absence of a pandemic" is now too long ago to provide reliable estimates for 2024 and 2025; and
  • Mortality trends since the acute phase of the pandemic have not followed a linear trajectory, leading the ABS to consider and apply a new statistical model. 

 

Headline results

2024

  • Australia recorded lower than expected mortality in 2024 (-1.7% negative excess mortality).
  • Tasmania was the only jurisdiction to record slightly higher than expected mortality (0.4% positive excess mortality). 
  • The Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory both recorded 4.6% fewer deaths than expected in 2024.

2025

  • Australia recorded lower than expected mortality in 2025 (-2.0%  negative excess mortality). 
  • All states and territories recorded lower than expected mortality in 2025 with negative excess mortality ranging from -1.3% in New South Wales to -10.6% in the Northern Territory (see the section on the Northern Territory in this publication for caveats relating to this estimate).
Excess mortality as a percentage above expected by jurisdiction, 2024-2025 (a)(b)(c)
 20242025
 Excess deaths (no.)Excess (%)Excess deaths (no.)Excess (%)
Australia-3,208-1.7-3,806-2.0
New South Wales-1,301-2.2-790-1.3
Victoria-567-1.2-1,029-2.2
Queensland-79-0.2-1,873-4.6
South Australia-111-0.7-516-3.2
Western Australia-691-3.7-736-3.9
Tasmania210.4-384-6.8
Northern Territory-61-4.6-138-10.6
Australian Capital Territory-129-4.6-65-2.4
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change. 
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Measuring excess mortality

Excess mortality estimates require an accurate prediction of an expected number of deaths for the time period of interest. Estimating expected mortality for a specific period requires selecting an appropriate baseline period which is representative of expected mortality patterns and able to be used to model key components such as seasonality and long-term mortality trends. Expected mortality estimates represent the level of mortality that would have occurred had these underlying patterns from the baseline period continued into the period of interest. The choice of statistical method, assumptions about mortality patterns and the baseline can markedly affect estimates of expected (and therefore excess) mortality. The suitability and application of any modelling should consider factors such as country context, data quality, collection methods and the research question the data is informing. 

Producing an expected number of deaths to address the research question "How does the number of deaths that have occurred compare to the number of deaths expected in a context where COVID‑19 is a persistent contributor to mortality?" was challenging. To account for COVID-19 in the expected numbers of deaths, the baseline period needed to include some years from the pandemic period (2020-2023). Mortality patterns had some periods of volatility with both very high and very low numbers of deaths, a change in seasonality (some higher than usual mortality in the summer period driven by COVID-19 deaths) and record low numbers of deaths due to influenza. To account for these the Generalised Additive Model was used and the following methodological decisions applied: 

  • The baseline consists of a rolling 7 year baseline to project the following year, with the exception of 2022. When 2022 was included in the baseline period, the model produced an unrealistically elevated estimate of expected mortality. This indicates that 2022 behaves as a structural outlier, rather than reflecting typical underlying mortality patterns. Therefore, 2022 was excluded from the baseline used to project mortality for both 2024, and 2025. The baseline years for 2024 consisted of 2016-2023 (excluding 2022) and for 2025 consisted of 2017-2024 (excluding 2022). 
  • Weeks with significantly high or low numbers of deaths were removed from the baseline to control for outliers. This was applied by age group and for each state and territory. Age‑specific outlier weeks were identified by comparing observed weekly deaths with the 95% credible interval of expected mortality.
  • The number of deaths in certain age groups for each jurisdiction for each week were modelled separately and then age group estimates were aggregated to obtain jurisdiction level estimates for the expected number of deaths. Estimates for Australia were obtained by modelling Australia separately from modelling each of the states, so the result for Australia will differ from the sum of the states. 
  • The model acknowledges that Australia has an increasing number of deaths due to an ageing population but a decreasing mortality rate (with reductions in deaths seen particularly in younger and middle-aged people) due to ongoing improvements in health care and health outcomes. 

For more detailed discussion of the approach, as well as a description of the Generalised Additive Model used to estimate expected mortality please refer to the methodology.

Interpreting results

Outputs from excess mortality estimates will differ depending on the calculation applied and the scope of the input data. In addition to the context provided in the opening sections of this publication and the methodology, the following factors must be taken into consideration: 

  • This report highlights weeks where excess deaths are notably above or below expected levels. In any given period, even if no temporary health hazards influence the number of deaths (such as community transmission of influenza or COVID-19), there is some natural variation in patterns of mortality. While the actual number of deaths may be different from the expected number of deaths, it should fall within an expected range (i.e. there is a 95% probability that the expected number of deaths lies between the upper and lower bounds of the credible intervals). When actual observations (counts of death) exceed the upper threshold or drop below the lower threshold, particularly for prolonged periods, this indicates a meaningful change in the pattern of mortality. This information should be used in conjunction with the percentage of excess mortality.
  • A single week above the threshold does not necessarily indicate excess mortality. Prolonged periods (2 or more weeks) where counts are outside thresholds suggest a higher likelihood that the numbers of deaths are above or below normal.
  • The Northern Territory has longer delays between date of death and date of registration compared with the other jurisdictions. Reasons for this include a higher number of deaths referred to the coroner and geographical challenges including a high number of remote locations which can delay funeral times and access to services (and therefore delay the reporting of deaths).
  • Data is reported on the basis of occurrence, and is subject to revision as late registrations are received by the ABS. Only deaths that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026 have been included in this publication. Please refer to the Timeliness and completeness of the data section of Provisional Mortality Statistics for further information. 

Weekly all-cause mortality: Australia

  • Australia recorded fewer deaths than expected across both 2024 and 2025. The annual excess mortality estimates were -1.7% in 2024 and -2.0% in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were consistently lower than expected between: 
    • late March 2024 and mid-May 2024,  
    • late August 2024 and early June 2025,  
    • mid-September 2025 and the end of the year.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were higher than expected between: 
    • late May and late July 2024, 
    • mid-June and early August 2025.
    • These weeks corresponded with weeks where higher numbers of deaths associated with COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) occurred. See Deaths due to acute respiratory infections in Australia publication for more data.
  • From late August to mid-October 2024 there were several weeks where the number of deaths were below the lower thresholds (credible intervals) for expected mortality.
Excess mortality by year, Australia, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
2024186,096189,304-3,208-1.7
2025187,703191,509-3,806-2.0
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Weekly all-cause mortality: New South Wales

  • In New South Wales, annual mortality was estimated at 2.2% below expected in 2024 and 1.3% below expected in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were lower than expected between: 
    • late July 2024 and the end of December 2024,
    • the end of January 2025 and mid-May 2025. 
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were higher than expected between:
    • late May 2024 and mid-July 2024,
    • mid-June 2025 and early August 2025.  
Excess mortality by year, New South Wales, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
202459,09060,391-1,301-2.2
202559,67360,463-790-1.3
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Weekly all-cause mortality: Victoria

  • In Victoria, annual mortality was estimated at 1.2% below expected in 2024 and 2.2% below expected in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were consistently lower than expected between:
    • early September 2024 and early November 2024,
    • mid-February 2025 and early May 2025,
    • mid-September 2025 and early November 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were higher than expected between:
    • June 2024 and late July 2024,
    • late June 2025 and early August 2025.
Excess mortality by year, Victoria, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
202445,69646,263-567-1.2
202546,31147,340-1,029-2.2
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Weekly all-cause mortality: Queensland

  • In Queensland, annual excess mortality was estimated at close to expected for 2024 (0.2% below expected) and 4.6% below expected in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were lower than expected between:
    • late August 2024 and late November 2024,
    • late January 2025 and mid-June 2025. There were several weeks during this period that were below the lower threshold. 
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were higher than expected between:
    • mid-May 2024 and end of June 2024,
    • mid-July 2024 and mid-August 2024, 
    • mid-June 2025 and mid-July 2025. 
Excess mortality by year, Queensland, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
202438,53038,609-79-0.2
202538,69740,570-1,873-4.6
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Weekly all-cause mortality: South Australia

  • In South Australia, annual mortality was estimated at 0.7% below expected in 2024 and 3.2% below expected in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were lower than expected between:
    • late October 2024 and early December 2024,
    • mid-March 2025 and mid-May 2025. 
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were higher than expected between:
    • late May 2024 and early-July 2024,
    • late May 2025 and late June 2025. 
Excess mortality by year, South Australia, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
202415,59915,710-111-0.7
202515,68716,203-516-3.2
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Weekly all-cause mortality: Western Australia

  • In Western Australia, annual mortality was estimated at 3.7% below expected in 2024 and 3.9% below expected in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were lower than expected between:
    • late June 2024 and mid-September 2024,
    • late December 2024 and mid-March 2025,
    • late April 2025 and late June 2025,
    • early November 2025 and end of December 2025. 
  • Across 2024 and 2025 there were few periods where mortality was higher than expected for 2 consecutive weeks. Overall mortality was higher than expected in July 2025. 
Excess mortality by year, Western Australia, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
202417,92018,611-691-3.7
202518,15818,894-736-3.9
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Weekly all-cause mortality: Tasmania

  • In Tasmania, annual mortality was estimated at close to expected for 2024 (0.4% above expected) and 6.8% below expected in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were lower than expected between:
    • early September 2024 and early October 2024,
    • early January 2025 and late March 2025,
    • early May 2025 and the end of June 2025. 
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were higher than expected between:
    • mid-March 2024 and late May 2024,
    • mid-June and August 2024,
    • the end of November 2025 and mid-December 2025. 
Excess mortality by year, Tasmania, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
20245,3085,287210.4
20255,3005,684-384-6.8
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Weekly all-cause mortality: Northern Territory

  • There is a longer time between the date of death and date of registration in the NT compared with other jurisdictions, meaning that the observed number of deaths may not be as complete. This is due to the dispersed geography, with the wet season and remote communities sometimes leading to a delay in burial and funerals (and therefore death registrations). Additionally, a higher proportion of deaths are referred to a coroner in the NT. The number of deaths that occurred in 2025, and to a lesser extent 2024, are likely to increase as more registrations are received by the ABS. This will change the excess mortality estimates in future publications. 
  • Excess mortality estimates for the Northern Territory should be treated with caution. There are a small number of deaths occurring in the NT each year, and often there are less than 20 deaths per week. The small number of deaths in the NT is due to a combination of factors, including the Territory's smaller population size and younger population.
  • In the Northern Territory, annual mortality was estimated at 4.6% below expected in 2024 and 10.6% below expected in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were lower than expected between:
    • mid-February 2024 and mid-March 2024,
    • mid-September 2024 and mid-October 2024,
    • mid-March 2025 and mid-May 2025,
    • mid-August 2025 and mid-September 2025,
    • early October 2025 and end of December 2025. 
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were higher than expected between:
    • most of early April and early August 2024,
    • most of late May 2025 and early August 2025. 
Excess mortality by year, Northern Territory, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)(d)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
20241,2671,328-61-4.6
20251,1631,301-138-10.6
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  4. Administrative factors as outlined in the commentary should be considered when interpreting results for the Northern Territory. 
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  3. Administrative factors as outlined in the commentary should be considered when interpreting results for the Northern Territory. 

Weekly all-cause mortality: Australian Capital Territory

  • In the Australian Capital Territory, annual mortality was estimated at 4.6% below expected in 2024 and 2.4% below expected in 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were lower than expected between:
    • early January 2024 and late April 2024,
    • mid-April and late May 2025.
  • Weekly numbers of deaths were higher than expected between:
    • mid-May 2024 and mid-June 2024. 
  • Mortality generally fluctuated around expected levels in the Australian Capital Territory, especially between August 2024 and October 2024, and between February 2025 and April 2025.
Excess mortality by year, Australian Capital Territory, 2024 and 2025 (a)(b)(c)
 ObservedExpectedExcess% Excess
20242,6652,794-129-4.6
20252,6932,758-65-2.4
  1. Data is provisional and subject to change.
  2. Years are based on a sum of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks derived from the weekly modelling. There are 52 weeks in 2024 and 2025. 
  3. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.
  1. Data is provisional and will change as additional death registrations are received.
  2. Includes all deaths (both doctor and coroner certified) that occurred by 28 December 2025 and were registered and received by the ABS by 30 April 2026.

Data downloads

Excess mortality January 2024 - December 2025

Methodology

Scope

Deaths:

  • occurring and registered in Australia
  • within Australian Territorial waters, Australian Antarctic and other external territories
  • in transit if registered in Australian state or territory of 'next port of call'
  • of Australian diplomats overseas

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories

Source

Registered deaths provided by the state and territory Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Certification by coroner provided by the National Coronial Information System.

Collection method

Administrative data

Concepts, sources and methods

Excess mortality is estimated by comparing the number of observed deaths with the number of deaths expected based on historical patterns. 
The underlying concepts and methods used are available in the methodology.

History of changes

This release introduces a new method for estimating excess mortality. Users should exercise caution when comparing estimates produced using the new and previous methods.

View full methodology
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