Causes of death

• 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.

Statistics on doctor certified death registrations

• The 65 deaths involving COVID-19 in October 2025 is the lowest since September 2021.
• Deaths from influenza fell in October 2025 (101 deaths), but are still high compared to earlier years.
• Influenza deaths for the year are comparable to 2017.

• Drug and alcohol-induced deaths both increased in 2024.
• There were 269 deaths due to assault – 168 males and 101 females.
• Accidental falls were the leading external cause of death and the 8th leading cause overall.
• 17,470 deaths reported injuries or poisoning as an associated cause, an increase of 4.4%.

• In 2024, 3,307 deaths have been classified as being due to suicide.
• The crude suicide rate was 12.2 per 100,000 people.
• Suicide was the 16th leading cause of death.
• People who died by suicide had a median age of 46.0 years.

Statistics on perinatal deaths including fetal (stillbirths) and neonatal deaths sourced from Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages

• 125,162 deaths occurred between January and August 2025, 1.1% fewer than 2024 but 1.7% more than 2023.
• 17,066 deaths occurred in August 2025, 0.6% more than 2024 and 6.3% more than 2023.
• There were more deaths from respiratory diseases in August 2025 than from dementia.