Posted 29/10/2020 by Joanne Simon-Davies
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recently released
the 2019 Causes of Death (cat
no. 3303.0) report which provided detailed information on the number and
nature of deaths in Australia in 2019.
According to the ABS report:
In 2019, there were 169,301 registered and received deaths
in Australia and the number one cause of death was Ischaemic heart disease with
18,244 deaths (10.8 per cent of all deaths). Even though the leading cause, the
age-standardised death rate from Ischaemic heart disease has decreased by 34.6
per cent since 2010.
Dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), remained the
second leading cause of death. Deaths due to dementia have increased by 66.8
per cent since 2010 (from 9,003 to 15,016).
Cerebrovascular diseases, Cancer of the trachea, bronchus
and lung and Chronic lower respiratory diseases round out the top five leading
causes.
The top five leading causes of death accounted for more than
one-third of all registered deaths (35.7 per cent).
Influenza and pneumonia was the ninth 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 (in 2010 it was ranked 15th).
Intentional self-harm was the 13th leading cause of death,
with the lowest median age at death at 43.9.
Table 1: Top 20 leading causes of death, 2010 and 2019
| Leading causes of death (Name and ICD-10
code) |
2010 |
2019 |
Median age
years: 2019 |
| No. |
Rank |
No. |
Rank |
| Ischaemic heart diseases
(I20-I25) |
21 721 |
1 |
18 244 |
1 |
84.0 |
| Dementia, including
Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30) |
9 003 |
3 |
15 016 |
2 |
89.1 |
| Cerebrovascular diseases
(I60-I69) |
11 200 |
2 |
9 891 |
3 |
86.3 |
| Malignant neoplasm of
trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34) |
8 102 |
4 |
8 821 |
4 |
74.3 |
| Chronic lower respiratory
diseases (J40-J47) |
6 129 |
5 |
8 372 |
5 |
80.7 |
| Malignant neoplasm of
colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0) |
5 247 |
6 |
5 410 |
6 |
77.6 |
| Diabetes (E10-E14) |
3 948 |
7 |
4 967 |
7 |
82.0 |
| Malignant neoplasms of
lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96) |
3 936 |
8 |
4 793 |
8 |
78.5 |
| Influenza and pneumonia
(J09-J18) |
2 373 |
15 |
4 124 |
9 |
88.8 |
| Diseases of the urinary
system (N00-N39) |
3 315 |
10 |
3 903 |
10 |
87.2 |
| Heart failure and complications
and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51) |
3 470 |
9 |
3 648 |
11 |
88.6 |
| Malignant neoplasm of
prostate (C61) |
3 236 |
11 |
3 611 |
12 |
82.4 |
| Intentional self-harm
(X60-X84, Y87.0) |
2 480 |
13 |
3 318 |
13 |
43.9 |
| Accidental falls (W00-W19) |
1 691 |
18 |
3 298 |
14 |
87.4 |
| Malignant neoplasms of
breast (C50) |
2 866 |
12 |
3 261 |
15 |
72.3 |
| Malignant neoplasm of
pancreas (C25) |
2 434 |
14 |
3 207 |
16 |
74.6 |
| Cardiac arrhythmias
(I47-I49) |
1 532 |
21 |
2 408 |
17 |
89.1 |
| Malignant neoplasm of liver
and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22) |
1 337 |
23 |
2 204 |
18 |
71.9 |
| Hypertensive diseases
(I10-I15) |
1 732 |
17 |
2 177 |
19 |
88.2 |
| Cirrhosis and other
diseases of liver (K70-K76) |
1 590 |
19 |
2 111 |
20 |
65.0 |
| All causes |
143 473 |
.. |
168 960 |
.. |
.. |
Males and females
There were 88,346 male deaths in 2019 and 80,955 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 10,822 deaths (ranked 2nd for women), for women it was Dementia
with 9,592 deaths. For the first time Dementia has moved into second place for
men, overtaking lung cancer deaths.
Breast cancer was the 6th leading cause among females,
accounting for 3,230 deaths and Prostate cancer was the 6th ranked cause of
death for males, accounting for 3,611 deaths.
For external causes such as accidental, assaults and
suicide; Suicide was ranked 10th for men (and not in the top 20 for women)
whilst Accidental falls were the highest ranked for females (13th).
Table 2: Top 20 leading causes of death by sex, 2019
| Males |
No. |
Rank |
| Ischaemic heart diseases
(I20-I25) |
10 822 |
1 |
| Dementia, including
Alzheimer's disease (F01, F03, G30) |
5 424 |
2 |
| Malignant neoplasm of
trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34) |
5 190 |
3 |
| Chronic lower respiratory
diseases (J40-J47) |
4 242 |
4 |
| Cerebrovascular diseases
(I60-I69) |
4 089 |
5 |
| Malignant neoplasm of
prostate (C61) |
3 611 |
6 |
| Malignant neoplasm of
colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0) |
2 932 |
7 |
| Malignant neoplasms of
lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96) |
2 783 |
8 |
| Diabetes (E10-E14) |
2 731 |
9 |
| Intentional self-harm
(X60-X84, Y87.0) |
2 502 |
10 |
| Diseases of the urinary
system (N00-N39) |
1 837 |
11 |
| Influenza and pneumonia
(J09-J18) |
1 800 |
12 |
| Malignant neoplasm of
pancreas (C25) |
1 699 |
13 |
| Accidental falls (W00-W19) |
1 647 |
14 |
| Heart failure and
complications and ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51) |
1 600 |
15 |
| Malignant neoplasm of liver
and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22) |
1 460 |
16 |
| Melanoma and other
malignant neoplasms of skin (C43-C44) |
1 406 |
17 |
| Cirrhosis and other
diseases of liver (K70-K76) |
1 362 |
18 |
| Parkinson's disease (G20) |
1 332 |
19 |
| Land transport accidents
(V01-V89, Y85) |
1 079 |
20 |
| Total male deaths |
88 346 |
.. |
| Females |
No. |
Rank |
| Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease
(F01, F03, G30) |
9 592 |
1 |
| Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25) |
7 422 |
2 |
| Cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69) |
5 802 |
3 |
| Chronic lower respiratory diseases
(J40-J47) |
4 130 |
4 |
| Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus
and lung (C33, C34) |
3 631 |
5 |
| Malignant neoplasms of female breast
(C50) |
3 230 |
6 |
| Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid,
rectum and anus (C18-C21, C26.0) |
2 478 |
7 |
| Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18) |
2 324 |
8 |
| Diabetes (E10-E14) |
2 236 |
9 |
| Diseases of the urinary system
(N00-N39) |
2 066 |
10 |
| Heart failure and complications and
ill-defined heart disease (I50-I51) |
2 048 |
11 |
| Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid,
haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96) |
2 010 |
12 |
| Accidental falls (W00-W19) |
1 651 |
13 |
| Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25) |
1 508 |
14 |
| Cardiac arrhythmias (I47-I49) |
1 458 |
15 |
| Hypertensive diseases (I10-I15) |
1 333 |
16 |
| Malignant neoplasm of ovary (C56) |
1 081 |
17 |
| Nonrheumatic valve disorders (I34-I38) |
920 |
18 |
| Diseases of the musculoskeletal system
and connective tissue (M00-M99) |
894 |
19 |
| Malignant neoplasm of uterus (C53-C55) |
878 |
20 |
| Total female deaths |
80 955 |
.. |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
There were 3,435 registered deaths of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people in 2019 (1,885 males and 1,550 females).
The median age at death was 60.9 years, increasing from 57.1
years of age in 2010, considerably lower than the total population.
Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death (405
deaths) for Indigenous people in 2019. Chronic lower respiratory disease (266) was
the second leading cause of death, overtaking diabetes (239) for the first
time.
Intentional self-harm
In 2019 there were 3,318 registered suicides deaths in
Australia. Of these, 2,502 were male suicides and 816 were female suicide
deaths. Of the 3,318 suicide deaths, 195 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people.
In 2019, the median age of death due to suicide was 43.9
years of age for males and 44.0 years of age for females, however for the Indigenous
population, the median age was considerably lower, for males 30.5 and for females
27.0 years.
The age-standardised death rate was 12.9 per 100,000 in 2019
(11.2 in 2010), for males however, it had increased from 17.5 in 2010 to 19.8 in
2019. For females the rate was 6.3 per 100,000 in 2019 compared to 5.0 in 2010.
When comparing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and
non-Indigenous populations, the rates are double that of Non-Indigenous people (see
Table 3). Indigenous males recorded a rate of 37.6 per 100,000 compared to 19.3
for non-Indigenous males. Likewise for females, the rate for Indigenous females
was 12.1 compared to 6.0 for non-Indigenous females.
Table 3: Age-standardised death rates for suicide by Indigenous
status sex, 2015-2019
| Sex |
Indigenous |
Non-Indigenous |
| Males |
37.6 |
19.3 |
| Females |
12.1 |
6.0 |
| Persons |
24.6 |
12.5 |
Note: Data reported
in this table are compiled by jurisdiction of usual residence for New South
Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern
Territory only. Data for Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital
Territory are excluded.
Source:
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Causes
of Death, Australia, 2019
Footnote:
1. Causes of death data for 2019 are preliminary and subject to a
revisions process. Data for 2010 has been finalised.