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Demography & Disease Overview

AUSTRALIA

Overall, Australians enjoy one of the highest life expectancies in the world. In 2004, Australia - along with Japan and Iceland - recorded a male life expectancy of 78 years, the highest in the world. The highest female life expectancies were recorded in Japan (85 years) and France (84 years), compared with Australia's 83 years. Australian life expectancy is a little higher than in countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and Germany, and higher again than in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The life expectancies of less developed countries are considerably lower. Regions defined by the United Nations as being made up of less developed countries (i.e. countries outside Europe, North America, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand) have an overall life expectancy of about 64 years, compared with 75 years for developed regions. The African continent has the lowest life expectancy at birth (less than 50 years).

Life expectancy is not uniform across populations within Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a much lower life expectancy than the general Australian population. Indigenous Australians born in the period 1996-2001 are expected to live about 20 years less than the rest of the population. For Indigenous persons aged 30-34, life expectancy was about 14 years less than their non-indigenous counterparts; for those aged 65-69, the difference was 5 to 8 years (ABS 2005, Deaths Australia, 2004, ABS Cat. No. 3302.0. Canberra: ABS).

A person's life expectancy also depends on the age they have already reached. For the general Australian population (the national average):

Males aged 30 in 2002-04 could expect to live to 79.4 years.
Males aged 65 in 2002-04 could expect to live to 82.8 years.
Females aged 30 in 2002-04 could expect to live to 83.8 years.
Females aged 65 in 2002-04 could expect to live to 86.1 years.

In 2004, there were 132,508 deaths recorded in Australia, consisting of 68,395 male deaths (769.6 deaths per 100,000 population*) and 64,113 female deaths (511.2 deaths per 100,000 population*).
* Age-standardised to the Australian population at 30 June 2001.

The most common forms of death for different age groups in Australia are:

injuries and poisoning for males and females in age groups 1 to 14 and 15 to 24 and for males aged 25 to 44
cancer for females aged 25 to 44, and for males and females aged 45 to 64
cardiovascular disease, which includes ischaemic heart disease and stroke, and is the prominent cause of death for persons aged older than 65 years.

Leading causes of death by age and sex, 2004

	Males		Females
Age group	Cause of death	% deaths*	Cause of death	% deaths*
Infants (less than one year)	Conditions emerging from the perinatal period	46.9	Conditions emerging from the perinatal period	47.0
	Congenital anomalies	24.2	Congenital anomalies	24.3
	Symptoms, signs & ill-defined conditions	12.8	Symptoms, signs & ill-defined conditions	9.5
	Nervous system disease	3.4	Injury and poisoning	3.8

1-14	Injury and poisoning	37.4	Injury and poisoning	33.2
	Cancer	18.2	Cancer	21.4
	Nervous system disease	9.7	Nervous system disease	12.7
	Congenital anomalies	7.9	Congenital anomalies	8.3

15-24	Injury and poisoning	74.7	Injury and poisoning	61.0
	Cancer	8.0	Cancer	11.5
	Symptoms, signs & ill-defined conditions	4.4	Cardiovascular disease	5.1
	Nervous system diseases	3.8	Nervous system disease	5.1

25-44	Injury and poisoning	51.4	Cancer	36.3
	Cancer	15.2	Injury and poisoning	28.0
	Cardiovascular disease	13.7	Cardiovascular disease	11.7
	Digestive disorders	3.5	Digestive disorders	4.5

45-64	Cancer	42.6	Cancer	56.9
	Cardiovascular disease	27.0	Cardiovascular disease	15.3
	Injury and poisoning	10.0	Injury and poisoning	6.2
	Digestive disorders	5.1	Respiratory system diseases	5.4

65-84	Cancer	36.6	Cardiovascular disease	35.1
	Cardiovascular disease	34.4	Cancer	32.4
	Respiratory system diseases	9.9	Respiratory system diseases	9.6
	Endocrine	4.2	Endocrine	4.6

85+	Cardiovascular disease	45.5	Cardiovascular disease	51.9
	Cancer	19.3	Cancer	12.2
	Respiratory system diseases	12.2	Respiratory system diseases	9.4
	Genitourinary diseases	3.5	Mental disorders	5.5

* Percentage of deaths within each age and sex group. Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.

Disease Prevalence

Summary information for leading causes of death, males, 2004

Conditions	Deaths		Mortality rate(a)	Yearly % change		Mean age at death	Top ten rank
	Number	% of total		1970- 2004(b)	2000- 2004
All causes of death	68,395	100.0	769.6	-2.3	-2.5	72
All circulatory diseases	22,921	33.5	266.9	-3.7	-4.3	76
Ischaemic heart disease	13,152	19.2	151.0	-3.9	-4.9	75	1
Cerebrovascular diseases	4,826	7.1	57.8	-3.8	-4.1	79	2
Diseases of the arteries, arterioles and capillaries	1,263	1.8	14.8	-4.5	-4.5	78
Other heart diseases	3,290	4.8	38.7	-3.2	-2.6	76	4
All cancers	21,383	31.3	231.3	-0.4	-1.6	72
Lung cancer	4,733	6.9	50.3	-0.8	-2.1	72	3
Prostate cancer	2,761	4.0	32.0	-0.3	-2.8	78	6
Colorectal cancer	2,215	3.2	23.7	-0.9	-6.2	71	7
Unknown primary site cancers	1,793	2.6	19.6	2.3	7.0	72	9
Other causes
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	2,986	4.4	34.3	-2.8	-5.8	78	5
Suicide	1,661	2.4	16.8	-0.6	-4.1	44	10
Diabetes	1,869	2.7	21.0	-0.3	0.8	75	8
Influenza and pneumonia	1,498	2.2	18.6	-3.7	-0.9	79
Dementia and related disorders	1,468	2.1	18.5	4.3	1.6	82

(a) Mortality rates are age-standardised to the Australian 2001 Standard Population and are expressed per 100,000 population.
(b) Percentage change for other heart diseases and dementia and related disorders are from 1979-2004.

Summary information for leading causes of death, females, 2004

Conditions	Deaths		Mortality rate(a)	Yearly % change		Mean age at death	Top ten rank
	Number	% of total		1970- 2004(b)	2000- 2004
All causes of death	64,113	100.0	511.2	-2.2	-1.9	77
All circulatory diseases	24,716	38.6	186.1	-3.7	-4.5	82
Ischaemic heart disease	11,424	17.8	86.1	-3.6	-5.5	82	1
Cerebrovascular diseases	7,215	11.3	53.9	-3.9	-3.9	83	2
Diseases of the arteries, arterioles and capillaries	1,214	1.9	9.3	-5.0	-4.6	82
Other heart diseases	4,272	6.7	32.3	-3.3	-3.1	81	3
All cancers	16,606	25.9	143.0	-0.4	-0.8	72
Female breast cancer	2,641	4.1	23.4	-0.7	-1.3	67	5
Lung cancer	2,531	3.9	22.2	2.5	0.0	72	6
Colorectal cancer	1,911	3.0	16.2	-1.9	-5.7	74	8
Unknown primary site cancers	1,745	2.7	14.4	1.9	6.7	76	10
Other causes
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	2,213	3.5	18.2	1.4	-0.4	78	7
Diabetes	1,730	2.7	13.8	-1.5	1.8	79
Influenza and pneumonia	1,883	2.9	13.8	-3.1	0.4	83	9
Dementia and related disorders	3,259	5.1	23.7	5.8	2.4	84	4
Suicide	437	0.7	4.3	-2.1	-4.8	45

For more information please refer to www.aihw.gov.au

NEW ZEALAND

Mortality and Demographic Data

The following is an excerpt from the annual statistical publication that collates and analyses information on the underlying causes of all deaths registered in New Zealand, provides commentary, and summarises key facts, mortality rates, trends and major causes of death by age group, and sex.

Selected facts from the publication:

Major causes of mortality in 2002 and 2003

There were 28,360 deaths registered in New Zealand in 2002, and 28,061 in 2003. Compared to the equivalent period a decade ago (ie, 1992 and 1993), this represents a 6.1 and 3.1 percent decrease respectively.
In 2002, males accounted for 31 more deaths (14,195 total male deaths; an age-standardised rate of 495.5 deaths per 100,000) than females (14,164 total female deaths; an age-standardised rate of 334.3).
In 2003, males accounted for 71 more deaths (14,066 deaths; an age-standardised rate of 476.4 deaths per 100,000) than females (13,995 deaths; an age-standardised rate of 323.4).
There were 2640 Maori deaths in 2002 (1446 males, 1193 females), accounting for 9.3 percent of total deaths. This gives an age-standardised rate of 845.2 for Maori males and 614.0 for Maori females.
There were 2705 Maori deaths in 2003 (1522 males, 1183 females), accounting for 9.6 percent of total deaths. This gives an age-standardised rate of 846.5 for Maori males and 589.8 for Maori females.

Selected trends

Cancer

There were 7800 deaths from cancer in 2002 (4125 males and 3675 females). There were 7932 deaths from cancer in 2003 (4233 males and 3699 females).
Cancer was the leading cause of death for both males and females in 2002 and 2003.
The age-standardised rate of cancer death has shown a downward trend from 1987 to 2003, with a 17.2 percent decrease for males and 17.5 percent decrease for females over the period.
Males had a consistently higher age-standardised rate of cancer death over from 1987 to 2003, and in 2003 the male rate was 34.1 percent higher than the female rate.
The Maori population consistently had a higher rate of cancer death than the non-Maori population. In 2002, the calculated Maori male rate was 58 percent higher than the non-Maori male rate. In 2003, the calculated Maori male rate was 63 percent higher than the non-Maori male rate.
Maori females had a calculated rate of cancer death that was 78 percent higher than the non-Maori female rate in 2002. Maori females had a calculated rate of cancer death that was 79 percent higher than the non-Maori female rate in 2003.
Ischaemic heart disease

Ischaemic heart disease

Ischaemic heart disease was the second leading cause of death after cancer in 2002, with 6287 deaths. Males accounted for 53.0 percent of these deaths, but the male age-standardised rate was almost twice the female rate in 2002.
Ischaemic heart disease was the second leading cause of death after cancer in 2003, with 6196 deaths. Males accounted for 52.3 percent of these deaths.
In 2002, the calculated Maori male age-standardised rate of death from ischaemic heart disease was 97 percent higher than the non-Maori male rate, and the calculated Maori female rate was 92 percent higher than the non-Maori female rate.
In 2003, the calculated Maori male age-standardised rate of death from ischaemic heart disease was 120 percent higher than the non-Maori male rate, and the calculated Maori female rate was 84 percent higher than the non-Maori female rate.

Cerebrovascular disease

Cerebrovascular disease was the third leading cause of death in the total population in 2002 and 2003, after cancer and ischaemic heart disease.
There were 2829 deaths from cerebrovascular disease in 2002 and the majority (61.9 percent) were female deaths.
There were 2692 deaths from cerebrovascular disease in 2003 and the majority (64.0 percent) were female deaths.
Maori males had the highest age-standardised rate of the four groups in 2002, followed by Maori females. The calculated Maori male age-standardised rate was 40 percent higher than the non-Maori male rate in 2002 and the calculated Maori female rate was 26 percent higher than the non-Maori female rate.
Maori females had the highest age-standardised rate of the four groups in 2003, followed by Maori males. The calculated Maori male age-standardised rate was 22 percent higher than the non-Maori male rate in 2003 and the calculated Maori female rate was 46 percent higher than the non-Maori female rate.

Diabetes mellitus

There were 805 deaths from diabetes mellitus in 2002, with slightly more male deaths (53.0 percent) than females. There were 847 deaths from diabetes mellitus in 2003 and 51.5 percent were male deaths.
The male age-standardised rate of death from diabetes has shown an upward trend from 1987 to 2003, with a 57.5 percent increase over the period; the female age-standardised rate over the same period increased by 40.4 percent.
Males had a consistently higher age-standardised rate of death from diabetes mellitus from 1987 to 2003, and in 2003 the male rate was 45.0 percent higher than the female rate.
The calculated Maori male age-standardised rate of diabetes mellitus was 466 percent higher than the non-Maori male rate in 2002 and the calculated Maori female rate was 494 percent higher than the non-Maori female rate.
The calculated Maori male age-standardised rate was 451 percent higher than the non-Maori male rate in 2003 and the calculated Maori female rate was 675 percent higher than the non-Maori female rate.

For the latest information please refer to http://www.nzhis.govt.nz/publications