Everyone must die of something

Do you know the top causes of death in Australia, and can you rank them in order from 1 to 5?

Your choices in cause of death are:

  • Heart disease
  • Road or traffic accidents
  • Lung cancer
  • Stroke
  • Emphysema (COPD)
  • Diabetes
  • Bowel cancer
  • Suicide
  • Dementia including Alzheimer's disease
  • Accidents or misadventure.

Here are the results

According to the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW), data from 2018 shows us that the top 5 causes of death in Australia were:

  1. (Coronary) Heart disease
  2. Dementia including Alzheimer disease
  3. Stroke (Cerebrovascular disease)
  4. Lung cancer
  5. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) including emphysema.

Some interesting facts about the data

What you die of changes across your life course. These are some of the top causes of death in different age groups within Australia:

  • Age 1-14 years: Perinatal and congenital conditions, land transport accidents, SIDS, and brain cancer
  • Aged 15-24 years: Land transport accidents, accidental poisonings, and assaults
  • Age 25-44 years: Accidental poisonings, land transport accidents and heart disease
  • Age 45-64 years: Heart disease, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer
  • Age 65-74 years: Lung cancer, heart disease and COPD
  • Age 75-84 years: Heart disease, dementia including Alzheimer disease and stroke
  • Over 85 years: Dementia including Alzheimer disease, heart disease and stroke.

You can find out more information by visiting the AIHW website

You can find this data and more interesting facts or figures about life expectancy and causes of death by visiting the AIHW website: Report - Deaths in Australia (updated 25 June 2021).

Last updated 02 August 2021