National Health Survey

• Eight in ten (81.4%) people had at least one long-term health condition
• One in two (49.9%) people had at least one chronic condition
• Mental and behavioural conditions (26.1%), back problems (15.7%), and arthritis (14.5%) were the most common chronic conditions.

See Health conditions prevalence for more information.

• Just under 3.7 million (14.5%) people had arthritis in 2022
• Prevalence of arthritis has remained stable since 2004–05 (15.3%)
• People aged 75 years and over were more likely than any other age group to have arthritis (48.9%).

See Arthritis for more information.

• Just under 2.8 million (10.8%) people had asthma in 2022
• Almost one in three (32.1%) people with asthma had a written action plan
• One in three (33.9%) people with asthma used asthma medication daily.

See Asthma for more information.

• Around one in fifty (1.8% or 456,200) people had cancer in 2022
• One in three (34.9%) people with cancer had skin cancer, the most reported type of cancer 
• Males were slightly more likely to have cancer than females (2.1% compared to 1.6%).

See Cancer for more information.

• COPD prevalence has remained steady over the last decade, from 2.4% in 2011–12 to 2.5% in 2022
• One in fourteen (7.0%) people aged 65 years and over had COPD, more than any other age group.

See Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for more information.

• One in twenty (5.3% or 1.3 million) people had diabetes in 2022
• Males and females had similar rates of diabetes (5.8% and 4.9%)
• Diabetes prevalence has slowly increased from 3.3% in 2001 to 5.3% in 2022.

See Diabetes for more information.

• One in twenty (5.2% or 1.3 million) people had heart, stroke and vascular disease in 2022
• Prevalence of heart, stroke and vascular disease has increased slightly since 2001 (4.1%)
• Heart, stroke and vascular disease was slightly more common in males than females (5.9% compared to 4.6%).

See Heart, stroke and vascular disease for more information.

• One in twelve (8.4% or 2.1 million) people had self-reported high cholesterol in 2022
• The prevalence of high cholesterol has increased since 2011–12 (6.8%)
• Almost three in ten (29.0%) people aged 75 years and over had high cholesterol.

See High cholesterol for more information.

• Over one in ten (11.6% or 3.0 million) people reported having hypertension in 2022
• Prevalence of reported hypertension was similar for males and females (11.7% and 11.6%)
• Three in four (74.5%) adults with high measured blood pressure did not report having hypertension.

See Hypertension and high measured blood pressure for more information.

• 246,200 people (1.0%) had kidney disease in 2022
• Kidney disease prevalence has remained steady over the last decade, from 0.8% in 2011–12 to 1.0% in 2022
• One in twenty (4.9%) people aged 75 years and over had kidney disease.

See Kidney disease for more information.

• More than one in four (26.8%) adults exceeded the Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline in 2022
• Males were more likely than females to exceed the guideline (35.8% compared to 18.1%)
• More than one in three (36.1%) young adults aged 18–24 years exceeded the guideline.

See Alcohol consumption for more information.

• Nine in ten (90.6%) children aged 0–3 years had ever received breast milk
• Nearly two in five (37.5%) were exclusively breastfed to 6 months
• Almost two in three (64.2%) were introduced to solids at 6 months or later.

See Breastfeeding for more information.

• Adults and children had similar rates of meeting both fruit and vegetable recommendations (4.2% and 4.3%)
• More than four in ten (44.1%) adults met the fruit recommendation and more than six in ten (63.9%) children met the fruit recommendation.

See Dietary behaviour for more information.

• Almost one in four (23.9%) people aged 15 years and over met the physical activity guidelines
• Nearly half (46.9%) of employed adults aged 18–64 years described their day at work as mostly sitting.

See Physical activity for more information.

• One in ten (10.6%) adults were current daily smokers in 2022, this rate has steadily declined from 22.4% in 2001
• Nearly three in five (58.3%) adults have never smoked
• One in seven (14.4%) adults have used e-cigarette or vaping devices.

See Smoking and vaping for more information.

• More than two in three (67.9%) adults had measured waist circumference that put them at an increased risk of disease in 2022
• Almost two thirds (65.8%) of adults were overweight or obese.

See Waist circumference and BMI for more information.

• Almost seven in ten (68.6%) people were dispensed at least one PBS medication in the 6 months before or after their NHS interview in 2022
• Over eight in ten (83.0%) of people with one or more chronic conditions were dispensed at least one PBS medication.

See Medications for more information.

• Over two in five (43.5%) people used paracetamol and one in five (20.6%) used ibuprofen in the last two weeks
• People with one or more chronic conditions were more likely to have used paracetamol than people with no chronic condition (52.6% compared to 34.5%)
• People with one or more chronic conditions were more likely to have used ibuprofen than people with no chronic condition (25.3% compared to 16.1%).

See Medications for more information.

Key statistics:

• Almost half (45.5%) of adults in NSW met the fruit recommendation
• More people aged 15 years and over in Victoria met the physical activity guidelines in 2022 than in 2017–18 (16.8% compared to 24.5%)
• Three in ten adults exceeded the Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline in the NT (31.1%), WA (29.9%), Queensland (29.4%), and SA (29.3%)
• People in Tasmania were more likely to have at least one chronic condition (58.4%) than any other state or territory
• Adults in the ACT were more likely to have never smoked (67.6%) and less likely to be current daily smokers (5.9%) than any other state or territory

See National Health Survey: State and territory findings for more information.