Health conditions and risks

• More than one in four (26.8%) adults exceeded the Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline in 2022
• Males were more likely than females to exceed the guideline (35.8% compared to 18.1%)
• More than one in three (36.1%) young adults aged 18–24 years exceeded the guideline

• 191.2 million litres of pure alcohol was available for consumption.
• This equates to 9.51 litres of pure alcohol available per person.
• 12.43 litres per person was consumed by the 77% of persons who consumed alcohol last year.

• Just under 3.7 million (14.5%) people had arthritis in 2022
• Prevalence of arthritis has remained stable since 2004–05 (15.3%)
• People aged 75 years and over were more likely than any other age group to have arthritis (48.9%)

• Just under 2.8 million (10.8%) people had asthma in 2022
• Almost one in three (32.1%) people with asthma had a written action plan
• One in three (33.9%) people with asthma used asthma medication daily

Physical activity results from the 2011-13 Australian Health Survey, presented with selected population characteristics and health risk factors

• Nine in ten (90.6%) children aged 0–3 years had ever received breast milk
• Nearly two in five (37.5%) were exclusively breastfed to 6 months
• Almost two in three (64.2%) were introduced to solids at 6 months or later

• Around one in fifty (1.8% or 456,200) people had cancer in 2022
• One in three (34.9%) people with cancer had skin cancer, the most reported type of cancer 
• Males were slightly more likely to have cancer than females (2.1% compared to 1.6%)

• 25% of children aged 5-17 years were overweight or obese.
• 6% of children met both the fruit and vegetables recommendations.
• 9% of adults and 7% of children consume sugar sweetened drinks daily.
• 45% of children aged 2-17 years usually consume either sugar sweetened drink or diet drinks at least once per week.

• 47% of Australians had one or more chronic conditions.
• Over the last decade the prevalence of chronic conditions increased (from 42%).
• Females aged 15 years and over were more likely than males to have a chronic condition (57% compared to 51%).
• The prevalence of chronic conditions increased with age.

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease prevalence has remained steady over the last decade, from 2.4% in 2011–12 to 2.5% in 2022
• One in fourteen (7.0%) people aged 65 years and over had COPD, more than any other age group

• One in twenty (5.3% or 1.3 million) people had diabetes in 2022
• Males and females had similar rates of diabetes (5.8% and 4.9%)
• Diabetes prevalence has slowly increased from 3.3% in 2001 to 5.3% in 2022
   

• Eight in ten (81.4%) people had at least one long-term health condition
• One in two (49.9%) people had at least one chronic condition
• Mental and behavioural conditions (26.1%), back problems (15.7%), and arthritis (14.5%) were the most common chronic conditions

• Over 8 million people reported having a long-term health condition.
• 4,791,516 people had one of the selected long-term health conditions.
• 1,490,344 people had two of the selected long-term health conditions.
• 772,142 people had three or more of the selected long-term health conditions.

• One in twenty (5.2% or 1.3 million) people had heart, stroke and vascular disease in 2022
• Prevalence of heart, stroke and vascular disease has increased slightly since 2001 (4.1%)
• Heart, stroke and vascular disease was slightly more common in males than females (5.9% compared to 4.6%)

• One in twelve (8.4% or 2.1 million) people had self-reported high cholesterol in 2022
• The prevalence of high cholesterol has increased since 2011–12 (6.8%)
• Almost three in ten (29.0%) people aged 75 years and over had high cholesterol

• Over one in ten (11.6% or 3.0 million) people reported having hypertension in 2022
• Prevalence of reported hypertension was similar for males and females (11.7% and 11.6%)
• Three in four (74.5%) adults with high measured blood pressure did not report having hypertension

• 246,200 people (1.0%) had kidney disease in 2022
• Kidney disease prevalence has remained steady over the last decade, from 0.8% in 2011–12 to 1.0% in 2022
• One in twenty (4.9%) people aged 75 years and over had kidney disease

Of people who volunteered to wear an accelerometer for this survey, on average:

• Adults spent 4 hours 26 minutes per day being active
• Adults were inactive for 11 hours 54 minutes per day
• Adults slept for 7 hours 36 minutes per night

• Almost seven in ten (68.6%) people were dispensed at least one PBS medication in the 6 months before or after their NHS interview in 2022
• Over eight in ten (83.0%) people with one or more chronic conditions were dispensed at least one PBS medication
• Over two in five (43.5%) people used paracetamol and one in five (20.6%) used ibuprofen in the last two weeks

• One in fifteen (6.6%) adults had diabetes
• One in seven (14.2%) adults had indicators of chronic kidney disease, up from 10.8% a decade earlier
• Almost one in three (30.2%) of adults had an abnormally high total cholesterol level
• One in five (20.6%) adults had a vitamin D deficiency, down from 23.8% in 2011–12

Information on health behaviours, conditions prevalence, and risk factors in Australia

This product presents data on health literacy by population characteristics including age and sex, by geography, health risk factors and status

• Almost half (45.5%) of adults in NSW met the fruit recommendation
• More people aged 15 years and over in Victoria met the physical activity guidelines in 2022 than in 2017–18 (16.8% compared to 24.5%)
• Three in ten adults exceeded the Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline in the NT (31.1%), WA (29.9%), Queensland (29.4%), and SA (29.3%)
• People in Tasmania were more likely to have at least one chronic condition (58.4%) than any other state or territory
• Adults in the ACT were more likely to have never smoked (67.6%) and less likely to be current daily smokers (5.9%) than any other state or territory

• Almost one in four (23.9%) people aged 15 years and over met the physical activity guidelines
• Nearly half (46.9%) of employed adults aged 18–64 years described their day at work as mostly sitting

• 56% of Australians aged 15 years and over considered themselves to be in excellent or very good health. This has remained constant over the last 10 years.
• 15% of Australians aged 15 years and over reported being in fair or poor health.
• Younger Australians generally rated themselves as having better health than older people.

• One in ten (10.6%) adults were current daily smokers in 2022, this rate has steadily declined from 22.4% in 2001
• Nearly three in five (58.3%) adults have never smoked
• One in seven (14.4%) adults have used e-cigarette or vaping devices

• 43.7% of adults experienced one or more stressors such as illness or bereavement
• Women were more likely to experience one or more stressors compared to men (45.0% compared to 42.2%)
• Seven in ten (71.1%) adults experienced bodily pain in the four weeks prior to the survey

• Two in five (38.1%) people aged 15 years and over used SPF30 or higher sunscreen on most days in the last month in late spring and summer 2023–24
• One in 14 (6.9%) people had experienced sunburn in the last week
• Young people aged 15–24 years were more likely to experience sunburn in the last week than people aged 65 years and over (15.2% compared to 2.0%)
• One in 10 (9.4%) Australians attempted to get a suntan in the previous twelve months

• More than two in three (67.9%) adults had measured waist circumference that put them at an increased risk of disease in 2022
• Almost two thirds (65.8%) of adults were overweight or obese