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CAUSES OF DEATH

CAUSES OF DEATH (a) (b), Western Australia
				Unit	1998	2005	2006	2007	2008(c)
Leading causes of death (all deaths) and ICD code
	Cancer (C00-C97)			%	27.9	30.8	31.2	30.5	29.6
	Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)			%	20.7	17.5	16.3	16.2	15.4
	Stroke (I60-I69)			%	9.2	7.4	7.6	6.9	7.7
Selected cancer and ICD code
	Male lung cancer (of male deaths) (C33-C34)			%	6.9	7.9	7.4	6.8	6.5
	Female lung cancer (of female deaths) (C33-C34)			%	3.7	4.8	4.7	5.0	4.6
	Female breast cancer (of female deaths) (C50)			%	4.3	4.4	np	4.3	4.1
	Prostate cancer (of male deaths) (C61)			%	3.0	3.9	4.1	3.5	3.9
	Skin cancer (of all deaths) (C43)			%	0.8	1.2	1.1	1.0	1.0
Heart disease
	Male ischaemic heart diseases (of male deaths) (I20-I25)			%	21.4	17.9	17.5	17.4	15.8
	Female ischaemic heart diseases (of female deaths) (I20-I25)			%	19.8	17.1	14.8	14.8	14.8
Transport accidents (V01-V99)
	Males (of male deaths)			%	2.9	2.2	2.7	3.3	2.6
	Females (of female deaths)			%	1.3	1.0	0.9	1.0	1.0
Intentional self harm (X60-X84) (d)
	Males (of male deaths)			%	4.1	2.8	2.5	3.1	3.5
	Females (of female deaths)			%	1.1	0.6	0.9	1.0	1.1
Total male deaths				no.	5 750	5 974	6 186	6 448	6 692
Total female deaths				no.	4 914	5 323	5 457	5 835	6 060
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Causes of death statistics have been compiled in respect of the state or territory of usual residence of the deceased.
(b) Causes of death data for 2008 are subject to revision. See Explanatory Notes 3-4 in the source publication for further information
(c) See Explanatory Notes 67-82 in the source publication for further information on specific issues relating to 2008 data.
(d) Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to suicide due to limitations of the data. See Explanatory Notes 78-79 and Technical Note: ABS coding of suicide deaths in source publication.
Sources: Causes of Death, Australia, 2008 (cat. no. 3303.0).

• In 2008, there were 12,752 deaths registered in WA. The main causes of death were cancer (malignant neoplasms), ischaemic heart disease and stroke, together accounting for more than half (53%) of all deaths. Transport accidents were responsible for 234 deaths (1.8%).
• The proportion of deaths caused by cancer (30%) was slightly higher than in 1998 (28%). By contrast, ischaemic heart disease (15%) and stroke (8%) accounted for a smaller proportion of deaths in 2008 than in 1998 (21% and 9% respectively).
• In 2008, there were 179 registered deaths of young people aged 15-24 years, with males accounting for 70% of deaths in this age group. The main causes of death for young people were transport accidents and intentional self harm (suicide). In 2008, a third (32%) of deaths of young people were due to accidents where the person was either an occupant of a car or a motorcycle rider, a higher proportion than in 2007 (25%).
• Suicide deaths in 2008 were much higher for males than females in this younger age group. Of the 45 deaths caused by 'intentional self harm' among persons aged 15-24 years, 34 were male and 11 were female. Suicide accounted for 27% of male deaths in this age group compared with 20% of female deaths, similar to the proportions in 2007.