Report: Coronary heart disease the leading cause of death in Australia
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease a top three cause in all but one state.
Coronary heart disease, dementia and Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular disease are the three leading causes of death for Australians, according to the latest Mortality Over Regions and Time report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, which looked at all causes of death in Australia between 2011 and 2015, found that coronary heart disease was the most common cause in all Australian states and territories.
The top three causes of death accounted for 42.83% of all deaths in the top 20 and for 28.01% of all deaths over that time span.
Coronary heart disease was responsible for 101,373 deaths, which was 20.55% of all deaths in the top 20 and 13.44% of all deaths.
Below are the top 20 causes of death for each state.
Top 20 causes of death by state
| Cause | NSW | VIC | QLD | WA | SA | TAS | ACT | NT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronary heart disease | 34,169 | 24,182 | 20,301 | 9,025 | 9,184 | 2,837 | 1,016 | 659 | 101,373 |
| Dementia and Alzheimer's disease | 18,416 | 14,179 | 9,616 | 4,907 | 6,108 | 1,741 | 601 | 186 | 55,754 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 20,099 | 12,766 | 10,372 | 4,039 | 4,655 | 1,489 | 611 | 155 | 54,186 |
| Lung cancer | 13,930 | 9,756 | 8,307 | 3,939 | 3,252 | 1,268 | 404 | 328 | 41,184 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 10,859 | 8,101 | 6,331 | 2,560 | 2,757 | 1,184 | 353 | 317 | 32,462 |
| Diabetes | 6,813 | 5,623 | 4,019 | 1,950 | 2,018 | 750 | 279 | 346 | 21,798 |
| Colorectal cancer | 6,702 | 5,554 | 4,160 | 1,715 | 1,795 | 634 | 300 | 119 | 20,979 |
| Cancer, unknown, ill-defined | 6,912 | 4,501 | 3,609 | 1,549 | 1,592 | 591 | 219 | 115 | 19,088 |
| Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease | 6,717 | 4,856 | 2,166 | 1,228 | 1,445 | 565 | 172 | 83 | 17,232 |
| Prostate cancer | 5,190 | 3,875 | 3,394 | 1,327 | 1,320 | 170 | 69 | 15,345 | |
| Breast cancer | 4,850 | 3,647 | 2,712 | 1,335 | 1,218 | 396 | 212 | 90 | 14,460 |
| Influenza and pneumonia | 4,185 | 4,046 | 2,244 | 1,223 | 1,347 | 384 | 138 | 13,567 | |
| Suicide | 3,681 | 2,879 | 3,288 | 1,773 | 1,091 | 373 | 178 | 231 | 13,494 |
| Pancreatic cancer | 4,429 | 3,292 | 2,247 | 1,139 | 1,106 | 436 | 170 | 66 | 12,885 |
| Kidney failure | 3,838 | 3,468 | 1,636 | 1,051 | 1,007 | 292 | 107 | 11,399 | |
| Accidental falls | 4,041 | 1,660 | 1,198 | 933 | 257 | 110 | 8,199 | ||
| Hypertensive disease | 4,174 | 2,341 | 893 | 380 | 133 | 7,921 | |||
| Cardiac arrhythmias | 3,519 | 2,581 | 778 | 292 | 144 | 7,314 | |||
| Liver cancer | 2,873 | 2,025 | 1,682 | 109 | 99 | 6,788 | |||
| Other ill-defined causes | 3,602 | 970 | 762 | 356 | 120 | 5,810 | |||
| Leukaemia | 2,110 | 1,630 | 756 | 4496 | |||||
| Septicaemia | 3,438 | 3,438 | |||||||
| Melanoma | 1,784 | 793 | 2,577 | ||||||
| Non-rheumatic valve disorders | 1,678 | 252 | 107 | 2,037 | |||||
| Land transport accidents | 931 | 222 | 1153 | ||||||
| Lymphomas | 748 | 748 | |||||||
| Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue | 247 | 247 | |||||||
| Liver disease | 155 | 155 | |||||||
| Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period, congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities | 100 | 100 | |||||||
| Malignant neoplasms of lip, oral cavity and pharynx | 82 | 82 | |||||||
| Assault | 77 | 77 |
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease was a top three cause in every state or territory except for the Northern Territory.
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