Deaths by category of cause
- by year
- by sex, trends
Cause of death
- by leading cause, age and year
- by Aboriginality and year
- by Aboriginality, trends
- by Local Health District and year
- by Primary Health Network and year
- by remoteness and year
- by socioeconomic status and year
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+ Source
Mortality estimates for years up to 2005 are based on Australian Bureau of Statistics death registration data. Data from 2006 onwards were provided by the Australian Coordinating Registry, Cause of Death Unit Record File; the data for the most 2 recent years are preliminary (SAPHaRI, Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, NSW Ministry of Health)
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+ Notes
Only NSW residents are included. Deaths are classified using ICD-10 classification and distributed according to ICD-10 chapters. Separate ICD-10 chapters on diseases of the nervous system, eye and ear and chapters on conditions relating to pregnancy, perinatal period and congenital diseases are combined into single categories in the analysis. Rates were age-adjusted using the Australian population as at 30 June 2001. LL/UL 95%CI = lower and upper limits of the 95% confidence interval for the point estimate.
Counts of deaths for the latest year of data include an estimate of the number of deaths occurring in that year but registered in the next year.
- + Data Table
- + Download
- + Methods
- + Codes
- Codes: Deaths by category
The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems
National Centre for Classification in Health, Australia; AM - Australian Modification
Description ICD-10 & ICD-10-AM Comments Infectious diseases A00-B99 All records are included, NSW residents only, all ages. Neoplasms - malignant C00-C99 Neoplasms - other than malignant D00-D48 Blood and immune diseases D50-D89 Endocrine diseases E00-E89 Mental disorders F00-F99 Nervous and sense disorders G00-H95 Circulatory diseases I00-I99, Excluding I84 Respiratory diseases J00-J99 Digestive system diseases K00-K93, I84 Skin diseases L00-L99 Musculoskeletal diseases M00-M99 Genitourinary diseases N00-N99 Maternal, neonatal and congenital causes O00-Q99 Ill defined and unknown causes R00-R99, U00-U49 Injury and poisoning (all external cause codes) S00-T98, U50-U73, V01-Y89 Haemorrhoids were classified as diseases of the circulatory system under ICD-10-AM Seventh edition (I84). In ICD-10-AM Eighth edition haemorrhoids are classified with diseases of the digestive system (K64). Consequently, haemorrhoids are not included in the total count of diseases of circulatory.
- + Related Indicators
- + Associated Information
- Key points: Deaths
• In 2017, there were 52,613 deaths of residents in NSW. The number of deaths has increased by around 9% in the 10 years since 2008. However, the death rate has decreased by around 15% over this period due to an increasing population
• The age standardised death rate was 508.8 per 100,000 population in NSW in 2017.
• In 2017 the age-adjusted male death rate was around 48% higher than the female death rate (615.9 compared with 416.3 per 100,000 population respectively). This difference has declined from 51% over the last 10 years since 2008.
• In 2017, there were 277 infant deaths in NSW, which was 2.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate in Australia was 3.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2017.
- Introduction: Deaths
Definition
Death or mortality statistics are published at regular intervals in most countries and usually show numbers and rates of deaths by sex, age and other variables. A death rate is an estimate of the proportion of the population that dies during a specified period (Last 2001). In this report it is expressed as the number of deaths per 100,000 population (person-years).
The proportion of people in different age groups varies between geographic areas and over time and can therefore influence death rate comparisons within these dimensions. Age-adjustment (also known as age-standardisation) allows for the comparison of death rates across geographic areas and over time after removing the effects of the different age structures in these dimensions.
Refer to the Methods tab for more information.
Death rates internationally
Death rates from all causes are low in Australia and NSW by international standards. The World Health Organization classifies Australia into an ‘A stratum’, with very low child and adult mortality. Comparisons by country reveal that the probability of dying between 15 and 60 years per 1,000 population (WHO calculated adult mortality rate) spans from around 50 in selected developed countries to just under 500 in some African counties. Australia’s rate was 61 per 1,000 in 2016, which placed it in 16th out of 183 reported countries (WHO 2018).
References
World Health Organization. World health statistics. Geneva: WHO. Available at: https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.686?lang=en
- Interventions: Deaths
Interventions aiming to reduce deaths rates in NSW are embedded in strategies dealing with specific health issues or specific disadvantaged populations.
- For more information: Deaths
Useful websites include:
Australian Bureau of Statistics at http://www.abs.gov.au
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare at http://www.aihw.gov.au
healthdirect at http://www.healthdirect.gov.au/