MEDIA RELEASE
6 November 2014	Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra Time)	154/2014

Aussie males born from now on could plan on receiving a "Happy 80th Birthday!" card, as the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that male life expectancy at birth has topped 80 years.

"We're now among a very rare group of countries," said Director of Demography, Denise Carlton, "the others being Switzerland, Japan and Iceland - where both men and women have a life expectancy of over 80 years."

"Australian women pushed past the 80 year mark back in 1990, so it's taken men nearly a quarter century to catch up.

"But having crossed the elusive 80 year threshold in the 1990s, improvements in expected lifespan for women has since slowed down, increasing by around four years over the period - it's 84.3 now.

"It's worth considering that 80 years is an expectation from birth, and statistically, the older you get, the more likely it is that you'll live to an even older age.

"So a man who is now 50 could expect to live to 82, a 65 year old to 84, and man who is 85 this year could look forward to a 91st birthday".

Male life expectancy rose to 80.1 in 2013 from 79.9 in 2012, while female life expectancy at birth remained steady at 84.3 years.

In 2013, for both males and females, the Australian Capital Territory had the highest life expectancy, while the Northern Territory had the lowest.

There were 147,678 deaths registered in Australia for 2013, a slight increase from the 147,098 registered in 2012.

Despite this increase in deaths, the growth of the Australian population meant that the standardised death rate actually fell, from 5.5 deaths per 1,000 population in 2012 to 5.4 in 2013.

Further details are in Deaths, Australia, 2013 (cat. no. 3302.0). State, territory and sub-state information is also available for free 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 as at 30 June 2001).
• When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
• Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070.

DEATHS, SUMMARY STATISTICS - Selected years Average annual change (%) Annual change (%) 2003(a) 2012(b) 2013(c) 2003-2013 2012-2013 Australia(d) Deaths no. 132 292 147 098 147 678 1.1 0.4 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 4.8 3.3 3.6 Standardised death rate(f) rate 6.5 5.5 5.4 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 77.8 79.9 80.1 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 82.8 84.3 84.3 Median age at death years 79.3 81.7 81.7 New South Wales Deaths no. 46 111 49 314 50 396 0.9 2.2 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 4.6 3.2 3.7 Standardised death rate(f) rate 6.5 5.5 5.4 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 77.7 79.9 80.0 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 82.9 84.2 84.3 Median age at death years 79.4 82.0 82.0 Victoria Deaths no. 32 925 35 760 35 916 0.9 0.4 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 5.1 2.8 2.9 Standardised death rate(f) rate 6.4 5.3 5.1 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 78.2 80.5 80.7 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 83.1 84.5 84.7 Median age at death years 79.7 82.6 82.7 Queensland Deaths no. 23 500 28 300 27 901 1.7 -1.4 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 4.8 4.4 4.6 Standardised death rate(f) rate 6.5 5.8 5.6 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 77.6 79.5 79.6 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 82.8 84.0 84.1 Median age at death years 78.7 80.4 80.2 South Australia Deaths no. 12 185 13 178 12 804 0.5 -2.8 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 3.7 3.2 3.2 Standardised death rate(f) rate 6.7 5.7 5.5 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 77.7 79.8 80.0 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 82.7 84.2 84.3 Median age at death years 80.2 83.0 82.7 Western Australia Deaths no. 11 311 13 339 13 414 1.7 0.6 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 4.1 2.5 2.4 Standardised death rate(f) rate 6.3 5.4 5.2 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 78.1 80.1 80.3 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 83.0 84.8 84.8 Median age at death years 78.7 80.5 80.4 Tasmania Deaths no. 3 965 4 459 4 444 1.1 -0.3 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 7.0 3.6 3.6 Standardised death rate(f) rate 7.4 6.6 6.5 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 76.6 78.7 78.8 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 81.4 82.6 82.6 Median age at death years 79.0 81.3 80.9 Northern Territory Deaths no. 875 1 038 1 097 2.3 5.7 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 8.4 8.0 7.4 Standardised death rate(f) rate 9.4 7.7 8.3 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 72.0 74.7 74.9 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 77.3 80.0 79.2 Median age at death years 58.8 59.8 64.2 Australian Capital Territory Deaths no. 1 414 1 706 1 700 1.9 -0.4 Infant mortality rate(e) rate 5.8 2.9 2.9 Standardised death rate(f) rate 5.8 5.0 4.8 Life expectancy at birth - Males years 79.2 81.2 81.7 Life expectancy at birth - Females years 83.8 85.1 85.0 Median age at death years 78.1 81.7 80.5 (a) Death rates for 2003 have been calculated using revised and recasted 30 June 2003 estimated resident population based on results from the 2011 Census and are final. (b) Death rates for 2012 have been calculated using revised 30 June 2012 estimated resident population based on results from the 2011 Census. (c) Death rates for 2013 have been calculated using preliminary 30 June 2013 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.