Actuaries Institute reveals top causes of death in Australia in 2022

Excess deaths in Australia for the first five months of 2022 were 12% (more than 8,500 deaths) more than predicted, with COVID-19 accounting for more than half of all excess deaths, according to the Actuaries Institute.

The institute’s COVID-19 Mortality Working Group estimated that 56% of the excess deaths in Australia during the first five months of the year were due to COVID-19, while the rest (44%) was due to other causes:

Ischaemic heart disease (650 more deaths than expected);
Cerebrovascular disease (220 more);
Diabetes (240 more);
Dementia (500 more);
Doctor-certified deaths due to causes not specified by the ABS (1,760 more); and
Coroner-referred deaths (420 more).

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Considering the report’s figures, Actuaries Institute chief executive Elayne Grace said they expect COVID-19 to be the third-leading cause of death in 2022.

“There is also ongoing concern about the impact of long-COVID. This underscores the importance of having strong plans and capacity to manage the long-term consequences of COVID, including in the healthcare system, income support system, and workplaces,” Grace said.

“Non-COVID-19 excess deaths are occurring around the world, with experts suggesting reasons including post-COVID-19 sequelae (conditions arising from COVID) or interactions with other causes of death, delayed deaths from other causes, delays in emergency care, delays in routine care, increased use of drugs and alcohol, and undiagnosed COVID-19 deaths.”

Karen Cutter, spokesperson for the Working Group, added: “It isn’t possible to identify from death counts alone whether any or all of these issues are causing the non-COVID-19 excess deaths, but we think that they are the most likely explanations. We would like to see further investigation into the possible causes of excess deaths to try to answer this question.”

The publication of Actuaries Institute’s COVID-19 Mortality Working Group follows the release of its climate index and Green Paper, focusing on climate change and its impacts.