Accidental falls are killing 60 percent more people than a decade ago, new figures show.
In 2025, 5519 people died from falls compared with 3461 in 2016. The increase was continuous during that period.
Australian Bureau of Statistics Cause of Deaths figures released today show that dementia continues to be the leading cause of death.
It accounted for 19,019 deaths in 2025, more than 10 percent of the total.
Mortality rates (deaths per 100,000 people) declined in 2025, settling back to normal patterns after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The age-standardised death rate for men fell to a record low of 581.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025. The death rate for women was the second lowest on record, with 418.4 deaths per 100,000 people.
ABS head of mortality statistics Lauren Moran said, despite the fall, the ageing population would mean more deaths over time, even as death rates declined relative to population size.
“The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily disrupted that pattern, but these rates indicate that Australia’s mortality patterns are returning to the long-term trend of declining death rates,” Ms Moran said.
Ms Moran said 2025 was the first time that dementia accounted for more than 10 percent of all deaths in Australia, with its share almost doubling since in 2006.
Dementia deaths have been the leading cause of death for women for a decade. In 2025, 61.1 per cent of all deaths from dementia were in females.
The other leading causes of death in 2025 were ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.
Drug-induced deaths were at 2063 in 2025, up from 2007 in 2024.
“While opioids and benzodiazepines continue to be the most common drug classes involved in these deaths, there has been substantial growth in deaths involving stimulants, including methamphetamine,” Ms Moran said.
“There were 779 drug-induced deaths involving stimulants in 2025, compared with 504 deaths in 2021.”
Suicide remained the leading cause of premature death for both males and females in 2025, with 3283 deaths. Men accounted for almost three-quarters of these deaths.
The full report is available here.
– Newsreel
