Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death for Australian males in 2023, with just over ten thousand deaths registered in that year. For Australian women, dementia and Alzheimer's disease were the leading cause of death, followed by Ischaemic heart disease.

Cause of death, by injury (% of total) in Australia was reported at 5.9446 % in 2019, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Australia - Cause of death, by injury (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

The number of deaths in Australia decreased significantly in 2023 compared to previous years. The number of deaths recorded in 2023 was approximately 46 thousand, compared to about 171 thousand in 2023. Number of deaths due to road accidents In Australia, there were 1,234 road-related fatalities during the course of the year. Drivers had the highest number of road fatalities, followed by motorcyclists and passengers. In the same year, New South Wales recorded the highest number of road deaths with a total of 334 road deaths. This does represent an increase from 2022 and the second-highest number of road fatalities in the last five years. New South Wales and South Australia exhibit comparable tendencies. Number of deaths due to COVID-19 On March 1, 2020, Australia recorded its first COVID-related death. The country recorded fewer than one thousand COVID-19-related deaths within the first year of the pandemic in 2020. By 2022, Australia recorded a total of 16,284 confirmed deaths from COVID-19. Australia has recorded the deaths of 4,258 women between the ages of 80 and 89 due to COVID-19. Moreover, more men between the ages of 80 and 89 have died of COVID-19 in 2022. At the time, the number of deaths among those under the age of 50 was significantly lower than that of those in older age groups.

Cause of death, by non-communicable diseases (% of total) in Australia was reported at 89.11 % in 2019, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Australia - Cause of death, by non-communicable diseases (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Data Description

This dataset contains data pertaining to the most common causes of death in Australia during the 2019 to 2021 period, separated between age and sex.

Data Source

Data was sourced from the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing (AIHW), which is an agency in the Australian Government.

The original data set can be downloaded from here. The download is an XLSX file, and here we only focus on the sheet titled "Table S3.2".

Data Cleaning

As provided by the AIHW, the data is not in a format that is easy for computational data analysis. Hence, an extensive data cleaning process was applied to place the data into a more appropriate long format.

The cleaning process can be found here.

References

Australian Government: Australian Institue of Health and Welfare (2023). Data tables: Deaths in Australia. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/life-expectancy-deaths/deaths-in-australia/data

In 2023, lung cancer was estimated to cause the most female deaths out of all the different types of cancer in Australia, with an estimated death toll of almost 3,850. In contrast, liver cancer was estimated to have caused just over 580 female deaths in 2023.

Cause of death, by communicable diseases and maternal, prenatal and nutrition conditions (% of total) in Australia was reported at 4.941 % in 2019, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Australia - Cause of death, by communicable diseases and maternal, prenatal and nutrition conditions (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

AU: Lifetime Risk Of Maternal Death data was reported at 0.004 % in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.006 % for 2022. AU: Lifetime Risk Of Maternal Death data is updated yearly, averaging 0.010 % from Dec 1985 (Median) to 2023, with 39 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.017 % in 1985 and a record low of 0.004 % in 2023. AU: Lifetime Risk Of Maternal Death data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Life time risk of maternal death is the probability that a 15-year-old female will die eventually from a maternal cause assuming that current levels of fertility and mortality (including maternal mortality) do not change in the future, taking into account competing causes of death.;WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, and UNDESA/Population Division. Trends in maternal mortality estimates 2000 to 2023. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2025;Weighted average;

WHO: COVID-2019: Number of Patients: Death: New: Australia data was reported at 0.000 Person in 24 Dec 2023. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 Person for 23 Dec 2023. WHO: COVID-2019: Number of Patients: Death: New: Australia data is updated daily, averaging 0.000 Person from Jan 2020 (Median) to 24 Dec 2023, with 1430 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,094.000 Person in 31 Dec 2022 and a record low of -76.000 Person in 16 Jul 2023. WHO: COVID-2019: Number of Patients: Death: New: Australia data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Health Organization. The data is categorized under High Frequency Database’s Disease Outbreaks – Table WHO.D002: World Health Organization: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-2019): by Country and Region (Discontinued). Negative data reflects the number of retrospective adjustments made by national authorities due to reconciliation exercises, and consequently deducted to the corresponding “To-Date” series.

In 2023, it was estimated that the type of cancer which caused the most male deaths in Australia was lung cancer, causing an estimated 4,847 deaths. Prostate cancer and colorectal cancer were also estimated to cause thousands of males deaths in Australia that same year.

Australia Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death: 1 in: Rate Varies by Country data was reported at 28,182.000 NA in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 18,170.000 NA for 2022. Australia Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death: 1 in: Rate Varies by Country data is updated yearly, averaging 10,377.000 NA from Dec 1985 (Median) to 2023, with 39 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 28,182.000 NA in 2023 and a record low of 5,969.000 NA in 1985. Australia Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death: 1 in: Rate Varies by Country data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Life time risk of maternal death is the probability that a 15-year-old female will die eventually from a maternal cause assuming that current levels of fertility and mortality (including maternal mortality) do not change in the future, taking into account competing causes of death.;WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, and UNDESA/Population Division. Trends in maternal mortality estimates 2000 to 2023. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2025;Weighted average;

Australia Number of Maternal Death data was reported at 7.000 Person in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 11.000 Person for 2022. Australia Number of Maternal Death data is updated yearly, averaging 18.000 Person from Dec 1985 (Median) to 2023, with 39 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 24.000 Person in 1992 and a record low of 7.000 Person in 2023. Australia Number of Maternal Death data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. A maternal death refers to the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.;WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, and UNDESA/Population Division. Trends in maternal mortality estimates 2000 to 2023. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2025;Sum;

Australia Road Fatalities: Per One Million Inhabitants data was reported at 4.775 Ratio in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 4.567 Ratio for 2022. Australia Road Fatalities: Per One Million Inhabitants data is updated yearly, averaging 6.816 Ratio from Dec 1994 (Median) to 2023, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.203 Ratio in 1995 and a record low of 4.265 Ratio in 2020. Australia Road Fatalities: Per One Million Inhabitants data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.OECD.ITF: Road Traffic and Road Accident Fatalities: OECD Member: Annual. [COVERAGE] ROAD FATALITIES A road fatality is any person killed immediately or dying within 30 days as a result of an injury accident, excluding suicides. A killed person is excluded if the competent authority declares the cause of death to be suicide, i.e. a deliberate act to injure oneself resulting in death. For countries that do not apply the threshold of 30 days, conversion coefficients are estimated so that comparison on the basis of the 30-day definition can be made.

In 2023, it was estimated that over 3.7 thousand people diagnosed with prostate cancer in Australia died from the disease. This figure has remained at over 3.3 thousand since 2017.

As of May 2, 2023, the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had spread to almost every country in the world, and more than 6.86 million people had died after contracting the respiratory virus. Over 1.16 million of these deaths occurred in the United States.

Waves of infections Almost every country and territory worldwide have been affected by the COVID-19 disease. At the end of 2021 the virus was once again circulating at very high rates, even in countries with relatively high vaccination rates such as the United States and Germany. As rates of new infections increased, some countries in Europe, like Germany and Austria, tightened restrictions once again, specifically targeting those who were not yet vaccinated. However, by spring 2022, rates of new infections had decreased in many countries and restrictions were once again lifted.

What are the symptoms of the virus? It can take up to 14 days for symptoms of the illness to start being noticed. The most commonly reported symptoms are a fever and a dry cough, leading to shortness of breath. The early symptoms are similar to other common viruses such as the common cold and flu. These illnesses spread more during cold months, but there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that temperature impacts the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Medical advice should be sought if you are experiencing any of these symptoms.

Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 210 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until July 13, 2022. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 557.8 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 6.3 million. Note, however, that COVID-19 test rates can vary per country. Additionally, big differences show up between countries when combining the number of deaths against confirmed COVID-19 cases. The source seemingly does not differentiate between "the Wuhan strain" (2019-nCOV) of COVID-19, "the Kent mutation" (B.1.1.7) that appeared in the UK in late 2020, the 2021 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India or the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from South Africa.

The difficulties of death figures

This table aims to provide a complete picture on the topic, but it very much relies on data that has become more difficult to compare. As the coronavirus pandemic developed across the world, countries already used different methods to count fatalities, and they sometimes changed them during the course of the pandemic. On April 16, for example, the Chinese city of Wuhan added a 50 percent increase in their death figures to account for community deaths. These deaths occurred outside of hospitals and went unaccounted for so far. The state of New York did something similar two days before, revising their figures with 3,700 new deaths as they started to include “assumed” coronavirus victims. The United Kingdom started counting deaths in care homes and private households on April 29, adjusting their number with about 5,000 new deaths (which were corrected lowered again by the same amount on August 18). This makes an already difficult comparison even more difficult. Belgium, for example, counts suspected coronavirus deaths in their figures, whereas other countries have not done that (yet). This means two things. First, it could have a big impact on both current as well as future figures. On April 16 already, UK health experts stated that if their numbers were corrected for community deaths like in Wuhan, the UK number would change from 205 to “above 300”. This is exactly what happened two weeks later. Second, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which countries already have “revised” numbers (like Belgium, Wuhan or New York) and which ones do not. One work-around could be to look at (freely accessible) timelines that track the reported daily increase of deaths in certain countries. Several of these are available on our platform, such as for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. A sudden large increase might be an indicator that the domestic sources changed their methodology.

Where are these numbers coming from?

The numbers shown here were collected by Johns Hopkins University, a source that manually checks the data with domestic health authorities. For the majority of countries, this is from national authorities. In some cases, like China, the United States, Canada or Australia, city reports or other various state authorities were consulted. In this statistic, these separately reported numbers were put together. For more information or other freely accessible content, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Around 69 in every 100,000 Australians were projected to be diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer, in 2023. The incidence rate increased with age, with the 85-89-year-old age group having an estimated incidence of over 290 cases per 100,000 persons in 2023.

Incidence of cancer in Australia

Cancer incidence refers to the number of newly diagnosed cases of the disease in a particular time period, typically one year. Cancer is among the leading causes of illness and death in Australia. The types of cancer with the highest incidence in Australia include prostate, breast, colorectal/bowel, melanoma, and lung cancer.

The dark side of the sunny life Down Under

Australia and New Zealand are home to the highest incidence rates of melanoma in the world. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that is commonly, however not exclusively, found on sun-exposed parts of the body, as the risk of developing melanoma increases with ultra-violet radiation (UV rays). Other types of skin cancers exist, however, melanoma is considered to be the most dangerous given its likelihood of spreading within the body.

（停止更新）WHO：新冠疫情：患者人数：死亡：迄今为止：澳大利亚在12-24-2023达23,915.000人，相较于12-23-2023的23,915.000人保持不变。（停止更新）WHO：新冠疫情：患者人数：死亡：迄今为止：澳大利亚数据按日更新，01-25-2020至12-24-2023期间平均值为2,674.500人，共1430份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-24-2023，达23,915.000人，而历史最低值则出现于03-01-2020，为0.000人。CEIC提供的（停止更新）WHO：新冠疫情：患者人数：死亡：迄今为止：澳大利亚数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Health Organization，数据归类于高频数据库的流行病爆发 – Table WHO.D002: World Health Organization: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-2019): by Country and Region (Discontinued)。

In the financial year 2023, Australians aged between 25 and 34 years dominated the fitness and gym industry in Australia, with over *** million Australians from the age group participating in fitness or gym activities during the year. That year, gym and fitness participation was the least popular among survey respondents aged 15 to 17 years. Gyms and fitness centers in Australia Australia has seen a steady increase in the number of fitness centers and gyms over recent years. Gym and fitness center use is one of the leading types of sports participation activities in Australia, along with recreational walking, athletics, jogging, and running. Physical health in Australia   While the availability and use of fitness centers continue to rise, obesity remains a significant public health risk in Australia. It is a major risk factor for developing coronary heart disease, a leading cause of death in Australia. Many factors may contribute to one’s risk of obesity; however, adequate physical exercise and a healthy diet are important factors for maintaining a healthy body weight. Currently, most Australians do not meet recommended physical activity guidelines, and only a small portion of Australian adults meet vegetable intake dietary guidelines.