Damon Mcknight
Morbidity and mortality are two terms commonly used in epidemiology to refer to different things. Morbidity is the state of having a specific illness or disease. It can refer to an acute condition, such as a respiratory infection, but often refers to a long-lasting, chronic condition. Morbidity rates refer to the rate at which a disease or illness occurs in a population and can be used to determine the health of a population and its healthcare needs. This data is used by insurers to set aside sufficient funds to cover benefits and claims for their customers. On the other hand, mortality refers to the number of deaths in a population. Mortality rates are often expressed as the number of deaths due to an illness divided by the total population at that time, typically as per 100,000 people. This data is used by insurers to determine pricing for premiums. This article will explore the morbidity rate in Australia, examining the rates at which specific illnesses or diseases occur in the country's population.
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What You'll Learn
Crude death rate
The crude death rate is a measure of the number of deaths occurring during a calendar year per 1,000 of the estimated resident population at the mid-point of the year (30 June). It is a vital metric for understanding population health and provides insights into the patterns of diseases that cause death within specific population groups.
In Australia, the crude death rate for 2022 was 6.70, representing a 0.37% increase from 2021. Since the early 1900s, Australia's death rates have been on a downward trajectory. Between 1907 and 2022, the crude death rate decreased by 32%. When accounting for changes in the population age structure, the age-standardised death rate witnessed a more significant drop of 73%. This improvement can be attributed largely to the decline in infant and child deaths during this period. Specifically, deaths per 100,000 children under five years of age plummeted from 2,412 in 1907 to 75 in 2022, marking a remarkable 97% decrease.
While death rates have generally decreased, the causes of death have also evolved over time. In the early 1900s, infectious diseases like influenza and tuberculosis were the primary causes of death. However, from the 1930s onwards, the leading causes shifted to cardiovascular diseases and cancers. The emergence of COVID-19 has also impacted the landscape of leading causes of death in recent years.
When examining specific population groups, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, crude death rates are generally higher than those for non-Indigenous Australians. In 2023, there were 5,256 deaths registered within this community, with the Northern Territory exhibiting the highest mortality rate in terms of both crude and age-standardised rates.
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Age-specific death rate
For males, the death rate for those under 45 years of age showed a 15.0% decrease in January 2025 compared to January 2024, and a 2.7% decrease compared to January 2023. The death rate for males over 85 years old was 5.0% lower than in January 2024 and 11.9% lower than in January 2023. Overall, males have a higher death rate than females across all age groups.
For females, the death rate for those under 45 years of age was 5.1% lower in January 2025 than in January 2024 and 22.8% lower than in January 2023. The death rate for females aged 75 to 84 years decreased by 8.0% compared to January 2024 and by 9.9% compared to January 2023.
The broader age group of 25 to 54 years had the highest age-specific death rates compared to the non-Indigenous population. In 2023, the age-standardised death rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 9.4 deaths per 1,000 population. Life expectancy for this group was lower across all age groups compared to non-Indigenous people, with the median age at death being 63.0 years.
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Infant mortality rate
In 2017, Australia recorded about 1,000 infant deaths under the age of one, or 3.3 deaths per 1,000 live births (3.5 and 3.0 for boys and girls, respectively). This was a decline from the 5.7 deaths per 1,000 babies recorded between 1998 and 2017. The infant mortality rate in Australia further decreased to 3.05 per 1,000 live births in 2021, the lowest between 2018 and 2021.
The top five causes of infant mortality in Australia in 2015-17 were perinatal conditions (53%), congenital anomalies (23%), and symptoms, signs, and abnormal findings, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (9.3%). SIDS accounted for 3% of all infant deaths in Australia, with the rate of SIDS deaths per 100,000 live births declining since the beginning of national public education campaigns about risk factors associated with SIDS in 1991.
In 2016, Australia's infant death rate (3.1 per 1,000) ranked 12th out of 36 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, ahead of the OECD average (3.9 per 1,000). While Indigenous death rates in Australia have decreased over time, they remain higher than those of non-Indigenous people, with the Closing the Gap framework established by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2008 aiming to halve the disparity by 2018.
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Leading causes of death
Australia has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, ranking fourth among the 38 member countries of the OECD in 2022. However, the country experienced a decrease in life expectancy in 2020-2022 for the first time since the mid-1990s, with a decline of 0.1 years for both males and females.
In 2022, there were 190,939 deaths registered in Australia, comprising 99,924 males and 91,015 females. The crude death rate, which represents the number of deaths per 1,000 people, was 6.70 in 2022, a 0.37% increase from 2021. This rate can be used to calculate the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change without migration, by subtracting it from the crude birth rate.
The age-specific death rate (ASDR) considers the number of deaths during the calendar year at a specified age per 1,000 of the estimated resident population (ERP) at the midpoint of the year (30 June). In 2023, the ASDR was below 1 death per 1,000 population for age groups below 35-39 years, with the lowest rates in the 5-9 and 10-14 age groups for both males and females. The ASDR more than doubled between the 45-49 and 55-59 age groups and progressively increased for each subsequent age group, with the highest rates in the 100+ age group for both males (398.1) and females (431.2).
The leading causes of death in Australia are statistical estimates based on available data from various sources, including national vital registration data, WHO technical programmes, United Nations partners, and scientific studies. While specific data on the leading causes was not readily available, some of the mentioned causes included ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and diabetes. COVID-19 was also a significant cause of death in 2022, with 9,859 deaths attributed to the virus.
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Life expectancy
Compared to other countries, Australia has a relatively high life expectancy. The life expectancy in the United States, for example, was 78.4 years in 2023, which is 4.1 years lower than the average of comparable countries (82.5 years). The US has the lowest life expectancy among comparable large, wealthy countries, despite spending nearly twice as much on healthcare per person on average.
The crude death rate in Australia for 2022 was 6.70 per 1,000 population, a 0.37% increase from 2021. The crude death rate represents the number of deaths per 1,000 people during a given year. In 2023, there were 183,131 deaths registered in Australia, a decrease of 7,808 from 2022. The age-specific death rate (ASDR) considers the number of deaths during a calendar year at a specified age per 1,000 residents at the midpoint of the year (30 June). In 2023, the ASDR was below 1 death per 1,000 population for age groups below 35-39 years (except for infants), with the lowest rates in the 5-9 and 10-14 age groups for both males and females. The ASDR more than doubled between the 45-49 and 55-59 age groups and progressively increased for each subsequent age group. The highest ASDR was in the 100+ age group for both males and females.
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Frequently asked questions
Morbidity rate refers to the number of individuals in a population who have a specific disease. Australia does not publish a single morbidity rate, but multiple types of death rates, which are related to morbidity rates.
The crude death rate in Australia was 6.70 per 1,000 population in 2022, a 0.37% increase from 2021.
The infant mortality rate in Australia is the number of deaths of children under 1 year of age per 1,000 live births in the same period. In 2022, less than 1% of all deaths in Australia occurred among children aged 0-4 years.
In Australia, a boy born between 2019 and 2022 can expect to live to the age of 81.2, and a girl can expect to live to 85.3.
