While 4 in 5 of us rate our health as ‘very good’, 50% of Australians have a chronic condition that is likely to cause their death, 63% of adults are overweight or obese, and around 45% of us will experience a mental illness in our lifetime.
Leading causes of death differ by age:
- 1–44 years: suicide, land transport accidents
- 45–74 years: coronary heart disease, lung cancer
- 75 years and over: coronary heart disease, dementia and Alzheimer disease
It’s estimated that 138,300 people were diagnosed with cancer and 48,600 died from it in 2018.
Proportion of adults who are overweight or obese:
Australia enjoys one of the highest life expectancies of any country in the world at 82.5 years (in 2015) and is ranked fifth among 35 OECD countries. Japan has the highest life expectancy at 83.9 years.
Men aged 65 in 2014–2016 could expect to live another 19.6 years (an expected age at death of 84.6 years) and the life expectancy of women aged 65 in 2014–2016 was 22.3 years (an expected age at death of 87.3 years).
We’re also working longer – 13% of Australians aged 65 and over participate in the workforce (17% for men and 10 for women). This is compared to 2006 when the workforce participation rate was 8%.