AIHW: Chronic disease continues to be the major cause of death among
people aged over 45 in Australia, with suicide the leading cause among people aged
15-44,' said AIHW spokesperson Louise York.
Coronary heart disease was the most common underlying cause of death
in Australia for people aged over 45, followed by cerebrovascular
disease, cancers, dementia and Alzheimer disease and respiratory
conditions.
'People who die of chronic disease often have more than one cause of death recorded on their death certificate,' Ms York said.
'For example, coronary heart disease was listed as an associated
cause of death for 50% of diabetes deaths and 25% of deaths due to
kidney failure.'
Land transport accidents were the leading cause of death among
children aged 1-14, while perinatal and congenital conditions were the
leading cause among infants.
Overall, there were 147,678 deaths in Australia in 2013, two-thirds
of which were in people aged over 75 years. More women died when they
were aged over 75 years than men (73% and 58%, respectively).
'Life expectancy in Australia continues to be among the highest in the world, with more women outliving men,' Ms York said.
Among OECD countries in 2012, Australian men improved their ranking
from 6th to 3rd, whilst Australian women remained steady at 7th.
Current life expectancy figures show that an Australian girl born in
2011-13 can expect to live to 84.3 years and an Australian boy can
expect to live to the age of 80.1 years.
'Life expectancy is still lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people, with Indigenous males living, on average, 10.6 years
less than their non-Indigenous counterparts. For Indigenous females,
this figure is 9.5 years,' Ms York said.
The information published today also includes the latest AIHW General
Record of Mortality (GRIM) Books, which are interactive
workbooks-presenting summary statistics on death and trend information
on deaths and causes of death in Australia.
The AIHW is a major national agency set up by the Australian
Government to provide reliable, regular and relevant information and
statistics on Australia's health and welfare.