MORTALITY TRENDS

• Trends in national mortality rates •  

Graphs showing time trends in mortality rates

Male all-cause mortality at age 70-79 years:

Australia and selected other countries, 1930-2004

Graph showing Australian, UK, US and Japan mortality, 1930-2003

Comment: The year in which the sudden sharp decrease in Australian male mortality at age 70-79 years began was 1971.

Method: Mortality rates calculated using data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Division, then standardised for age (by taking unweighted averages of component rates) and smoothed (as weighted 3-year moving averages). For details, see the Info page.

Caution: Trends can reflect not only changes in disease occurrence or treatment, but also changes in how a cause of death is defined or coded.

WHO mortality rates for particular countries, ages and causes of death