Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease cause more than one in 10 deaths
MELBOURNE: Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, accounted for more than 10 per cent of all deaths for the first time last year, cementing its status as the leading cause of death in Australia for the second consecutive year.
The annual Australian Bureau of Statistics data on causes of death, released on Tuesday, revealed dementia was the most common cause of death for women and people in every state and the ACT.
Ischaemic heart disease remained the leading killer of men and tied with diabetes as the top cause of death in the Northern Territory.
The rate of dementia-related deaths as a percentage of the population remained steady at slightly over 45 per 100,000 people, while the rate for the other four leading causes of death – ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, trachea, bronchus and lung cancers and chronic lower respiratory disease – all fell in 2025.
Dementia Australia chief executive Tanya Buchanan said the data underlined “the critical need for more recognition and funding to support people living with dementia, their families and carers”.
“Despite the growing impact of dementia, investment in specific services, supports and prevention have not kept the same pace, and the stigma that surrounds dementia continues,” Professor Buchanan said.
“This needs to change. There are an estimated 446,500 Australians currently living with dementia, and a further 1.7 million people involved in their care. Without significant intervention, this is expected to increase to more than one million by 2065.”
The number of dementia-related deaths has increased by 37 per cent since 2016, while deaths from ischaemic heart diseases, previously the top cause of death, have fallen 16 per cent over the same period.
ABS head of mortality statistics Lauren Moran said: “This is the first time that dementia has accounted for more than 10 per cent of all deaths in Australia and is almost double its share in 2006, when dementia was the fourth-leading cause of death at 5 per cent of all deaths.”
The decline in heart disease deaths is much greater on a per-capita basis, falling by a third since 2016 from 63 per 100,000 people to 42 per 100,000 last year.
One of the biggest rises in causes of death was falls and fractures, which hit 5519 last year, up 60 per cent since 2016 to be the seventh-most common cause of death.
Of the 1052 falls broken down by category, the most frequent were: falls from slipping, tripping and stumbling on level ground (629); falls involving a bed (118); falls on or from stairs and steps (103); falls involving a chair (59) and falls from a ladder (46).
Suicide, which was the 15th leading cause with 3283 deaths, was responsible for 108,674 potential years of life lost. The median age for suicide cases was 45.
The other causes of death responsible for the most potential years of life lost were: ischaemic heart diseases (72,039 from 16,228 deaths), accidental poisoning (53,257 from 1050 deaths), trachea, bronchus and lung cancers (51,205 from 9134 deaths), and land transport accidents (41,725 from 1349 deaths).
Complications from medical and surgical care led to 84 deaths last year, most frequently linked to adverse effects from drugs, medications and biological substances (50).
The number of people who died from excessive cold (23) exceeded the number who died from excessive heat (19).
Venomous animals were responsible for six deaths, with snakes or lizards accounting for three of those and hornets, wasps or bees two.
Twenty-six deaths were linked to being struck or bitten by other animals, or coming into contact with them, including: mammals (11), dogs (six), marine animals (six) and crocodiles or alligators (three).