SYDNEY – Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, accounted for more than 10 percent of all deaths in Australia in 2025 for the first time, remaining the country's leading cause of death, according to official data released on Tuesday.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said 19,019 people died from dementia in 2025, accounting for 10.1 percent of all registered deaths, up from 18,291 in 2024.

Ischaemic heart diseases remained the second leading cause of death, claiming 16,228 lives, or 8.6 percent of the total, with the mortality rate falling to its lowest level since official records began in 1968.

Cerebrovascular diseases, lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases rounded out the five leading causes of death, which together accounted for 33.3 percent of all registered deaths.

A total of 188,421 deaths were registered across Australia in 2025, an increase of 1,153 from the previous year. However, the age-standardized mortality rate fell from 507.8 to 495.5 deaths per 100,000 people, indicating a return towards pre-pandemic mortality trends, the ABS said.

Over the past decade, deaths caused by dementia increased by 37.3 percent, while deaths from ischaemic heart diseases and cerebrovascular diseases declined by 16.2 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively.

The report also showed that accidental falls rose to the seventh leading cause of death in 2025, with 5,519 fatalities, an increase of 59.5 percent compared with 2016.

Meanwhile, influenza and pneumonia accounted for 4,382 deaths, ranking 11th among the leading causes of death and representing 2.3 percent of all fatalities.

The male age-standardized death rate dropped to a record low of 581.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025, according to the ABS.