Silent killer exposed: Dementia now Australia’s leading cause of death

Lauren Moran, ABS head of mortality statistics, said: ‘The number of deaths caused by dementia has risen by 39 per cent over the last decade.’

The leading causes of death in 2024 aligned with Australia’s ageing population. Over two-thirds (68.2 per cent) of deaths are people aged over 75 years, compared to 66.1 per cent ten years ago and 63.3 per cent twenty years ago.

"People are now more likely to live to an age where they have a higher risk of developing dementia," Moran said.

"This is especially true for women who have longer life expectancies. Today’s data shows that 62.4 per cent 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 over time. Dementia accounted for 9.1 per cent of total deaths while heart disease accounted for 9.3 per cent in 2023. In 2024, dementia accounted for 9.4 per cent of total deaths, and ischaemic heart diseases 8.7 per cent.

Mortality rates due to coronary heart diseases have dropped by nearly 90 per cent since they peaked in 1968.

"However, coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men, causing 10,153 deaths in 2024," Moran said.

"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 – more information below.

Chronic lower respiratory diseases (which include emphysema and bronchitis) caused just over 9,000 deaths. This became the third leading cause of death in 2024.

"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 said.

Drug and alcohol-induced deaths both increased in 2024. Drug-induced deaths rose to 1,947, up from 1,766 in 2023. Alcohol-induced deaths rose to 1,765 from 1,700 in the same period.

"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 3,307 people who died by suicide in 2024. This is 12.2 deaths per 100,000 people. Men accounted for just over three quarters of those deaths.