Standardised mortality in Australia

The numbers of deaths increase, whilst mortality rates decline.

Anthony B. Masters
2 min readMar 31, 2022

Why were the numbers of deaths in Australia higher in 2021 than in the previous year?

Three factors influence death counts in a population:

  • Population size: a larger group is more likely to experience people dying.
  • Age structure: mortality risks increase with age, so older populations have more deaths.
  • Mortality rates within age groups: in age bands, these rates change in time and space.

Differences in these factors result in changes to the numbers of deaths.

Australia has a growing population, which is also getting older. At the start of the century, there were around 19m Australian residents, with a median age of 35. By September 2020, the residential population was about 25.7m people. The median age was also above 37 years.

Even with mortality rates declining, a growing and ageing population is overwhelming. That leads to increased numbers of deaths each year. Improvements in mortality rates are an insufficient counterbalance.

(Image: R Pubs)

What if we look at age-standardised mortality? This is a statistical procedure. First, collect death statistics by different age groups. Second…

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Anthony B. Masters

This blog looks at the use of statistics in Britain and beyond. It is written by RSS Statistical Ambassador and Chartered Statistician @anthonybmasters.