COVID-19 contributed to the disease burden in 2022
The leading 5 diseases contributing to the total burden of disease as a proportion were: coronary heart disease (5.5%) dementia (4.4%) back pain and problems (4.2%)
Australians suffered more burden from living with illness (50.4% of total burden) than from premature death (49.6%) 11% reduction in total burden between 2003 and 2015. Coronary heart disease, back pain, COPD, dementia and lung cancer were the top 5 diseases causing burden in 2015.
Cause 1: Ischaemic heart disease
Ischaemic heart disease was the leading single cause of deaths in Australia, responsible for 17,331 deaths in 2021, about one in 10 of total deaths that year. Males were more prone to the disease, accounting for 10,371 (59.8%) of the deaths compared to 6,960 (40.2%) for females.
Common chronic conditions
arthritis – 3.6 million people (15.0%) asthma – 2.7 million people (11.2%) diabetes mellitus – 1.2 million people (4.9%)
Tobacco smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in Australia. Smoking leads to a wide range of diseases including many types of cancer, heart disease and stroke, chest and lung illnesses and stomach ulcers.
Causes of Death, Australia
The mortality rate remained low in 2021 (507.2 per 100,000 people). Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death. Suicide was the 15th leading cause of death. There were two deaths from Influenza, a record low.
Chronic conditions are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in Australia. Common chronic conditions include cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women.
Four species of sharks account for the vast majority of fatal attacks on humans: the bull shark, tiger shark, oceanic whitetip shark and the great white shark.
Lung cancer accounted for the most cancer deaths, making it the second leading cause of death for males and fifth leading cause overall. Colorectal cancer was the sixth leading cause of death, accounting for 5,325 deaths in 2017.
Speeding Accidents
Speeding is the number 1 cause of fatal road accidents in Australia.
In Remote and very remote areas combined, circulatory diseases contributed the biggest gap in mortality rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (gap of 187 per 100,000). In non-remote areas cancer and other neoplasms were the biggest contributors to the gap (gap of 45 per 100,000) (Table D1.
Key statistics
Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death. Suicide was the 15th leading cause of death. There were two deaths from Influenza, a record low.
Sixty-six per cent of deaths registered in Australia in 2020 were among people aged 75 or over (60% for males and 73% for females). The median age at death was 79 years for males and 85 years for females (Table S2. 1).
The world average age of death is a few years lower at 68.9 years for men and 73.9 years for women. Within the European Union, these are 77.7 and 83.3 years respectively. Birth rate and death rate are given in births/deaths per 1,000 inhabitants within one year. The table shows the official data from the year 2021.
Musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain and arthritis are responsible for more health spending than any other group of conditions ($14.6 billion, or 10.4%). Cardiovascular diseases ($12.7 billion) and cancer and other neoplasms ($12.1 billion) ranked second and third highest for health spending.
The main types of NCD are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.