Dementia has become Australia’s top cause of death as the population ages, rising 39% in last 10 years, new government statistics show.
With more than 17,500 deaths reported in 2024, dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) has surpassed ischaemic heart disease as the leading cause, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says.
Third was chronic lower respiratory diseases (including emphysema and bronchitis) with just over 9000 deaths in 2024.
The leading causes of death last year are in line with Australia’s ageing population, the ABS says; 68.2% of deaths are people aged over 75 years compared to 66.1% 10 years ago and 63.3% 20 years ago.
ABS head of mortality statistics Lauren Moran says: “The number of deaths caused by dementia has risen by 39% over the last decade.”
“People are now more likely to live to an age where they have a higher risk of developing (it).
“This is especially true for women who have longer life expectancies. The data shows that 62.4% of people who died from dementia were women; we’ve also seen that dementia has been the leading cause of death for women since 2016.”
The gap between dementia and ischaemic heart disease had been narrowing, the ABS says; dementia accounted for 9.1% of deaths in 2023 with heart disease at 9.3% while in 2024, dementia stood at 9.4% and heart disease at 8.7%.
Mortality rates due to coronary heart disease had dropped by nearly 90% since they peaked in 1968.
“However, coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men, causing 10,153 deaths in 2024,” Moran says.
“It was also the leading cause of death for people living in outer regional, remote, and very remote Australia.”
Coronary heart disease is the second leading cause of premature death, after suicide, the ABS says.
For more information, click here to visit Dementia Australia’s website
THIRD TO DEMENTIA
On respiratory diseases, Mora says: “Overall deaths caused by respiratory diseases (excluding COVID-19) were at a record low during the first few years of the COVID-19 pandemic but we’re now seeing a return to numbers recorded before the pandemic. This includes the flu, which caused 827 deaths in 2024,” Moran says.
Drug and alcohol-induced deaths both increased in 2024; drug-related deaths rose to 1947, up from 1766, in 2023 while alcohol-induced deaths rose to 1765 from 1700.
“Acute toxicity was the main cause of drug-induced deaths; opioids and other depressants including benzodiazepines were the most common drug class present,” Moran said.
“Long term complications of alcohol use, such as liver cirrhosis, was the main cause of alcohol-induced deaths. The alcohol-induced death rate has increased over the last five years from 5.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2020 to 5.9 in 2024.”
Suicide was the leading cause of premature death. People who died by suicide had a median age of 46.0 years.
There were 3307 people who died by suicide in 2024 or 12.2 deaths per 100,000 people.
Men accounted for just over three quarters of those deaths.
SUPPORT IS AVAILABLE
- If you or someone you know requires help or support, call Lifeline (13 11 14) or Beyond Blue (1300 224 636).
- For more information and support, contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500.
EARLIER STORY: Dementia on the way to becoming top cause of death
