Heart, stroke and vascular disease encompasses a range of circulatory conditions including angina, heart attack and stroke. Commonly, this group of conditions is referred to under the broader term of 'heart disease' and is often used interchangeably with the term 'cardiovascular disease'. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide[1]. In 2017, it was found that there were 43,447 deaths (27% of all deaths) in Australia attributable to diseases of the circulatory system[2] and there were more than 1.1 million hospitalisations in 2015-16 (11% of all hospitalisations) due to cardiovascular disease[3]. Heart disease is associated with lifestyle risk factors such as; smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, being inactive, being overweight, an unhealthy diet and depression[4].
Heart, stroke and vascular disease
Contains key statistics and information about heart, stroke and vascular disease and its prevalence in Australia
Key statistics
- 1.2 million Australians had heart disease.
- Heart disease more common among males than females (5% compared with 4%).
- 27% of all deaths in Australia attributed to diseases of the circulatory system.
Who had heart disease in 2017-18?
The prevalence of heart disease amongst Australians was around one in twenty (4.8% or 1.2 million people) in 2017-18 and has remained fairly consistent over time.
Heart disease has remained more common among males (5.4%) compared with females (4.2%) and over time, the gap does not appear to be narrowing.
The proportion of people with heart disease generally increases with age. In 2017-18, the proportion of people with heart disease was less than 5% under 55 years of age, then steadily climbed to one in four (25.8%) Australians aged 75 years and over with heart disease in 2017-18. This however, was a decline from 2014-15 where 30.7% of adults aged 75 years and over had heart disease.
The prevalence of heart disease was similar for all age groups until age 64 years regardless of gender. For those aged 65 years and older, men had higher rates of heart disease compared to women for those aged 65-74 years (19.6% and 12.4% respectively) and age 75 years and over (31.5% and 20.4% respectively).
Data downloads
Table 1: Summary health characteristics, 2001 to 2017-18 - Australia
Table 2: Summary health characteristics, 2017-18 - States and territories
Table 3: Long-term health conditions - Australia
Table 4: Long-term health conditions by population characteristics - Australia
Table 5: Selected current long-term conditions by health risk factors and health status - Australia
Table 19: Comorbidity of selected chronic conditions - Australia
Table 20: New South Wales
Table 21: Victoria
Table 22: Queensland
Table 23: South Australia
Table 24: Western Australia
Table 25: Tasmania
Table 26: Northern Territory
Table 27: Australian Capital Territory
Table 33: Small area estimates
Released 17/04/2020
Additional data cube with modelled small area estimates for persons with chronic health conditions by age for Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2) of usual residence have been added.
All data cubes
Endnotes
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Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 4364.0.55.001.