| MEDIA RELEASE | |
7 November 2013 | Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra Time) | 190/2013 |
Australians living longer
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released the highest life expectancy estimates ever recorded in Australia, reflecting record low death rates.
Director of Demography, Bjorn Jarvis, said "A boy born today could expect to live 79.9 years, while a girl could expect to live 84.3 years. For those approaching retirement age, say 65 years, males could expect to live a further 19 years and females a further 22 years".
"Australia's life expectancy at birth continues to be amongst the highest in the world. The combined male and female figure of 82.0 years, while a little lower than Japan and Hong Kong, is higher than Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA," said Mr Jarvis.
The Australian Capital Territory had the highest life expectancy at birth with 81.2 years for males and 85.1 years for females. The lowest life expectancy was in the Northern Territory, at 74.7 years for males and 80.0 years for females.
While there were 147,098 deaths registered in Australia, the standardised death rate fell to 5.5 deaths per 1,000 people, the lowest rate ever recorded in Australia. In 2002, the death rate was 6.8 deaths. This decrease over the last ten years was greater for males (around 2 deaths per 1,000 males) than for females (around 1 death per 1,000 females).
Further details are in
Deaths, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 3302.0). State, territory and sub-state information is also available for download from the ABS website (
www.abs.gov.au).
Media notes:
- Standardised death rates enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population (currently, the age distribution of all persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001).
- Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) as the source.
DEATHS, SUMMARY STATISTICS - Selected years
|
| | | | | Average annual change
(%) | Annual change (%) |
| | 2002(a) | 2011(b) | 2012(c) | 2002-2012 | 2011-2012 |
|
Australia(d) | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 133 707 | 146 932 | 147 098 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 5.0 | 3.8 | 3.3 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 6.8 | 5.7 | 5.5 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 77.4 | 79.7 | 79.9 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 82.6 | 84.2 | 84.3 | | |
Median age at death | years | 79.1 | 81.5 | 81.7 | | |
| | | | | | |
New South Wales | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 46 384 | 50 661 | 49 314 | 0.6 | -2.7 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 4.6 | 3.8 | 3.2 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 6.7 | 5.8 | 5.4 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 77.3 | 79.8 | 79.9 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 82.6 | 84.2 | 84.2 | | |
Median age at death | years | 79.1 | 81.8 | 82.0 | | |
| | | | | | |
Victoria | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 33 772 | 36 552 | 35 760 | 0.5 | -2.2 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 5.0 | 3.5 | 2.8 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 6.7 | 5.6 | 5.2 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 77.8 | 80.3 | 80.5 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 82.8 | 84.4 | 84.5 | | |
Median age at death | years | 79.6 | 82.2 | 82.6 | | |
| | | | | | |
Queensland | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 23 968 | 27 414 | 28 300 | 1.5 | 3.2 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 5.8 | 4.6 | 4.4 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 6.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 77.2 | 79.5 | 79.5 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 82.4 | 84.1 | 84.0 | | |
Median age at death | years | 78.6 | 80.4 | 80.4 | | |
| | | | | | |
South Australia | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 11 987 | 12 665 | 13 178 | 0.9 | 4.1 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 5.1 | 2.6 | 3.2 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 6.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 77.3 | 79.7 | 79.8 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 82.6 | 84.0 | 84.2 | | |
Median age at death | years | 80.0 | 82.6 | 83.0 | | |
| | | | | | |
Western Australia | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 11 326 | 12 724 | 13 339 | 1.5 | 4.8 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 4.3 | 3.0 | 2.5 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 6.5 | 5.4 | 5.4 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 77.9 | 80.1 | 80.1 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 82.9 | 84.6 | 84.8 | | |
Median age at death | years | 78.5 | 80.3 | 80.5 | | |
| | | | | | |
Tasmania | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 3 979 | 4 245 | 4 459 | 1.0 | 5.0 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 6.2 | 4.5 | 3.6 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 7.6 | 6.4 | 6.6 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 76.5 | 78.3 | 78.7 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 81.3 | 82.5 | 82.6 | | |
Median age at death | years | 78.7 | 80.9 | 81.3 | | |
| | | | | | |
Northern Territory | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 911 | 964 | 1 038 | 1.2 | 7.7 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 11.3 | 7.6 | 8.0 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 9.1 | 8.0 | 7.7 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 71.3 | 74.9 | 74.7 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 76.7 | 80.5 | 80.0 | | |
Median age at death | years | 55.8 | 61.9 | 59.8 | | |
| | | | | | |
Australian Capital Territory | | | | | | |
Deaths | no. | 1 373 | 1 700 | 1 706 | 2.0 | 0.4 |
Infant mortality rate(e) | rate | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.9 | | |
Standardised death rate(f) | rate | 5.9 | 5.1 | 4.9 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Males | years | 79.2 | 81.0 | 81.2 | | |
Life expectancy at birth - Females | years | 83.3 | 84.8 | 85.1 | | |
Median age at death | years | 78.9 | 81.4 | 81.7 | | |
|
(a) Death rates for 2002 have been calculated using revised and recasted 30 June 2002 estimated resident population based on results from the 2011 Census. |
(b) Death rates for 2011 have been calculated using revised 30 June 2011 estimated resident population based on results from the 2011 Census. |
(c) Death rates for 2012 have been calculated using preliminary 30 June 2012 estimated resident population based on results from the 2011 Census. |
(d) Includes Other Territories. |
(e) Infant deaths per 1,000 live births. |
(f) Deaths per 1,000 standard population. Standardised death rates use the age distribution of total persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001 as the standard population. |
|
|