Recently the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the 2018 Causes of Death (cat no. 3303.0) report which provided detailed information on the number and nature of deaths in Australia in 2018.

According to the ABS report:

In 2018, there were 158,493 registered deaths in Australia and the number one cause was Ischaemic heart disease with 17,533 deaths (11 per cent of all deaths). Even though the leading cause, the age-standardised death rate from Ischaemic heart disease has decreased by 22.4 per cent since 2009, consistent with declines in heart disease mortality observed now for more than 50 years.

Dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), remained the second leading cause of death. Deaths due to dementia have increased by 68.6 per cent since 2009 (from 8,280 to 13,963).

Cerebrovascular diseases (strokes etc.), Cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung and Chronic lower respiratory diseases rounded out the top five leading causes of death.

The top five leading causes of death accounted for more than one-third of all registered deaths (37 per cent).

Influenza and pneumonia was the 12th leading cause of death. According to the ABS, the number of influenza deaths is strongly linked to the severity of flu seasons and this can drive changes in ranking for this cause group.

Intentional self-harm was the 14th leading cause of death and has the lowest median age at death among the top 20 leading causes, at 44.4 years of age.

Table 1: top 20 leading causes of death, 2009 and 2018

In 2018, there were 82,320 male deaths and 76,173 female deaths. Table 2 shows the top 20 causes of death for males and females. The top five causes are the same for both males and females, although the ranking of those causes differs. For men the leading cause of death was Ischaemic heart disease with 10,269 deaths (ranked 2nd for women), for women it was Dementia with 8,973 (ranked 3rd for men). For external causes such as accidental, assaults and suicide; Suicide was ranked 10th for men (not in the top 20 for women) whilst Accidental falls were the highest ranked for females (14th).

Table 2: top 20 leading causes of death by sex, 2018

Data by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status is available for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory; Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory have been excluded due to concerns by the ABS regarding the accuracy of the data. On that basis, in 2018 there were 3,218 deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

The leading cause of death among Indigenous persons was Ischaemic heart disease, as it is with the total Australian population; however the rate per 100,000 was 117.3 (154.0 in 2009) compared to 58.6 for non-Indigenous persons.

The second leading cause of Indigenous death was Diabetes with a rate of 75.1 per 100,000 compared to 15.2 per 100,000 for non-Indigenous people (Diabetes is ranked 7th for the total population).

For Indigenous males, suicide was ranked 2nd compared to 10th for non-Indigenous males. For Indigenous males, the rate has been increasing; 25.8 per 100,000 in 2009, 33.7 in 2013 and reached 38.1 per 100,000 in 2018 (compared to 19.2 for non-Indigenous males). For Indigenous women, suicide was ranked 7th compared to 23rd for non-Indigenous women.

Table 3: top 20 leading causes of death by Indigenous and non-Indigenous status, 2018

Note: Rates presented in this table have been calculated using Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections based on the 2016 Census, and are per 100,000 population.

In 2018 there were 3,046 registered deaths of people who died due to intentional self-harm (suicide). The standardised death rate was 12.1 deaths per 100,000 people. Death rates recorded over the five years from 2014 to 2018 have been between 11.9 (2016) and 12.9 (2015) deaths per 100,000 people.

The chart below uses customised data from the ABS to show the crude rate of suicide (the number of deaths registered during the reference year per 100,000 estimated resident population at 30 June) by current Commonwealth Electoral Divisions. The Division of Flynn in Queensland recorded the highest rate of suicide in 2018 with 26.7 per 100,000 population (compared to 9.2 in 2003, 15 years prior). Other electorates also recorded high suicide rates: Lingiari in the NT (22.0), O’Connor and Hasluck in WA (21.0 and 20.9) and in Qld; Rankin, Kennedy, Leichhardt and Hinkler (20.9, 20.9, 20.3 and 20.0 rate per 100,000 population).

Those with the lowest rates included: Berowra in NSW (3.1 per 100,000), Calwell, Bruce and Hotham in Vic (4.3, 4.5 and 4.9) and Fowler and Parramatta in NSW (both with 5.1).

Chart 1: intentional self-harm (suicide deaths) rates per 100,000 by top 20 Commonwealth Electoral Divisions, 2003 and 2018

Clients of the Parliamentary Library can request assistance to interpret the statistics, obtain suicide data by Commonwealth Electoral Divisions from 2003 to 2018 or to find other relevant data.

Source:

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Causes of Death, Australia, 2018, cat no. 3303.0, Customised data, ABS, 2019

Footnote:

1. Causes of death data for 2018 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process.
2. Cells with small values have been randomly adjusted to protect the confidentiality of individuals. As a result, some totals will not equal the sum of their components. Cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation.