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CAUSES OF DEATH

• In 2007, there were 12,283 deaths registered in Western Australia. The main causes of death were cancer (malignant neoplasms), ischaemic heart disease and stroke, together accounting for more than half (54%) of all deaths. Transport accidents were responsible for 270 deaths (2.2%).
• The proportion of deaths caused by cancer (30.5%) was slightly higher than in 1997 (28.5%). By contrast, ischaemic heart disease (16%) and stroke (6.9%) accounted for a smaller proportion of deaths in 2007 than in 1997 (20% and 9.2% respectively).
• In 2007, the total number of deaths in the 15-24 year age group was twice as high for males (116) as for females (52). Transport accidents accounted for more male (34%) than female (31%) deaths in this younger age group, although the difference in these proportions was smaller than in the previous year (43% compared with 30%).
• Suicide deaths in 2007 were much higher for males than females in this younger age group. Of the 44 deaths caused by 'intentional self harm' among persons aged 15-24 years, 34 were male and 10 were female. Suicide accounted for 29% of male deaths in this age group, compared with 19% of female deaths. However, in 2006, these proportions were virtually identical (both around 17%).

4 Causes of Death(a)
				Unit	1997	2004	2005	2006	2007 (b)(c)
Leading causes of death (all deaths) and ICD code
	Cancer (C00-D48)			%	28.5	30.5	30.8	31.2	30.5
	Ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25)			%	20.2	17.4	17.5	16.3	16.2
	Stroke (I60-I69)			%	9.2	8.1	7.4	7.6	6.9
Selected cancer and ICD code
	Male lung cancer (of male deaths) (C33-C34)			%	6.7	7.0	7.9	7.4	6.8
	Female lung cancer (of female deaths) (C33-C34)			%	3.7	4.6	4.8	4.7	5.0
	Female breast cancer (of female deaths) (C50)			%	4.5	4.1	4.4	np	4.3
	Prostate cancer (of male deaths) (C61)			%	3.2	3.7	3.9	4.1	3.5
	Skin cancer (of all deaths) (C43)			%	0.7	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.0
Heart disease
	Male ischaemic heart disease (of male deaths) (I20-I25)			%	21.1	18.4	17.9	17.5	17.4
	Female ischaemic heart disease (of female deaths) (I20-I25)			%	19.2	16.3	17.1	14.8	14.8
Accidents and suicide (V01-Y98)
	Transport accidents (V01-V99, Y85 )
		Males (of male deaths)		%	2.9	2.6	2.2	2.7	3.3
			15-24 years (of male deaths 15-24 years)	%	38.7	35.0	36.2	43.0	33.6
		Females (of female deaths)		%	1.2	1.0	1.0	0.9	1.0
			15-24 years (of female deaths 15-24 years)	%	26.3	28.8	31.6	30.2	30.8
	Suicide (X60-X84, Y87.0)(d)
		Males (of male deaths)		%	3.6	2.7	2.8	2.5	3.1
			15-24 years (of male deaths 15-24 years)	%	22.7	15.0	23.3	17.2	29.3
		Females (of female deaths)		%	1.0	0.7	0.6	0.9	1.0
			15-24 years (of female deaths 15-24 years)	%	15.8	9.6	7.9	17.0	19.2
Total male deaths				no.	5 774	5 850	5 974	6 186	6 448
Total female deaths				no.	5 033	5 334	5 323	5 457	5 835
Total male deaths 15-24 years				no.	150	120	116	128	116
Total female deaths 15-24 years				no.	57	52	38	53	52
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)				no.	5.3	3.9	4.6	4.9	2.4
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Causes of death statistics for states and territories in this publication have been compiled in respect of the state or territory of usual residence of the deceased, regardless of where in Australia the death occurred and was registered. Deaths of persons usually resident overseas are included in the state/territory in which their death was registered.
(b) Causes of death data for 2007 is subject to revision. See Explanatory Notes 3-4 in the source publication for further information
(c) See Explanatory Notes 67-82 for further informationon specific issues relating to 2007 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 for further information.
Source: Causes of Death (cat. no. 3303.0); Deaths (cat. no 3302.0). ABS data available on request. To view Excel spreadsheet: Causes of Death