Deaths increase by 20,000 year on year, with COVID-19 becoming a top five killer

Almost 20,000 more Aussies died in 2022 than the year before, with COVID-19 the third biggest killer.

It's the first time since 1970 that an infectious disease has been in the top five leading causes of death.

Mortality went up during the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, ABS numbers show.

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"Deaths due to COVID-19 were a significant contributor to the increase, causing just under 10,000 deaths and mentioned as a contributing factor on a further 2,782 death certificates," the ABS said.

"The Omicron variant was the dominant strain during 2022, with multiple waves across the year associated with the variant."

There were 9,859 deaths due to COVID-19 registered in Australia that year.

The median age at death was 85.8 years - which is older than the median age at death for all-cause mortality, which was 82.2 years.

For those who died with COVID-19 as a contributory condition the most common underlying cause of death was dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

However, the biggest killer overall remains ischaemic heart disease, also known as coronary heart disease, experts at the ABS, said.

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That was followed by dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, with cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes, and lung cancer making up the top five.

A total of 305 people died from influenza in 2022- compared with two in 2021, when lockdowns were extensive.

Plus 1267 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2022 - 961 men and 306 women.

That's slightly more than the 1,226 killed in 2021.

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