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Shark Attack Statistics: Australia’s most dangerous beaches for shark attacks
Shark attack statistics put Australia second in the world for the most number of unprovoked attacks, with New South Wales the most dangerous state in the country.
Shark attack statistics show that there have been more than 488 unprovoked fatal shark attacks in Australia since 1988. While most recorded attacks have occurred in New South Wales, the majority of fatalities transpired in Western Australia.
Finder analysed data released by the Shark Research Institute's Global Shark Attack File, determining hotspot coastal locations around the country where hundreds of unprovoked shark attacks have occurred between 1988 and 2018.
In Australia, there has been an average of 16.3 shark attacks a year since 1988.
156 attacks took place off the coast of NSW, almost double the 83 attacks recorded in Queensland, which came in second.
Shark attack prevalence by Australian state over a 20-year period from 1988
State
Attacks
Fatal
New South Wales
156
7
Western Australia
81
18
Queensland
83
9
South Australia
28
11
Victoria
32
0
Tasmania
5
2
Northern Territory
6
0
Torres Strait
1
0
Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands
1
0
Total
488
47
Source: finder.com.au, www.sharkattackfile.net *Not all shark fatalities are recorded by State, and some are unaccounted for due to ocean locations.
The coast of Western Australian is the most deadly, with 18 fatal shark attacks. South Australia has the next deadliest coastline with 11 recorded fatalities, followed by Queensland (9), NSW (7) and Tasmania (2). This means Western Australia accounts for 38% of the country's total shark-related fatalities.
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Top 15 countries for unprovoked shark attacks from 1988-2018
Australia ranks second in the world for the number of shark attacks (488) behind the USA with a whopping 1,406 attacks since 1988.
While Medicare covers you if anything should happen on an Australian beach, if you're planning on surfing abroad - especially in any of these destinations - travel insurance for surfers with comprehensive (or unlimited) overseas medical and hospital expenses is strongly recommended.
Jessica Prasida is a travel insurance expert for Finder. She lives and breathes travel, having worked as a travel agent and branch manager at STA Travel for over 4 years, then writing about travel insurance with Finder for another 5 years. Jess has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney and a Tier 1 General Insurance qualification.
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