Arabic version: الخرف مسؤول عن أكثر من وفاة واحدة من كل 10 وفيات في أستراليا

According to ABC News, dementia remained Australia’s leading cause of death in 2025, accounting for more than 19,000 deaths, including those linked to Alzheimer’s disease. It was the first time dementia represented more than 10 per cent of all deaths nationally, Australian Bureau of Statistics head of mortality statistics Lauren Moran said.

Australia registered 188,421 deaths in 2025. Dementia became the country’s leading cause of death in 2024 and has stayed at the top of the list, while it has been the deadliest condition among women for the past 10 years. The median age of death was 81.9 years, and more than two-thirds of deaths were among people aged 75 or older.

Ischaemic heart disease was the second-leading cause of death, accounting for about 8 per cent of deaths. However, the number of Australians dying from the condition was at its lowest level since 1968. Cerebrovascular diseases, lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases also ranked among the top five causes, which together represented one-third of all deaths.

The ABS said age-standardised death rates for both men and women fell in 2025, returning to pre-COVID-19 levels. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, ischaemic heart disease remained the leading cause of death, while the age-standardised death rate for Indigenous people rose 5.2 per cent.

Suicides fell slightly to 3,283, with men accounting for 73.9 per cent of those deaths. Suicide remained the leading cause of premature death for males and females, although male suicide reached its lowest level since 2016. Registered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide deaths rose to 320, the highest in the ABS time series, while drug-induced deaths increased to 2,063.