4-in-5 Aussie COVID-19 deaths have happened in the Omicron era

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-11-18 11:45

Australia; NSW; VIC; QLD; SA; WA; TAS; NT; ACT

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80% of Australia's total COVID-19 deaths have occurred since Omicron took over as the dominant variant, according to a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The report for the first half of 2022 says the rate of COVID-19-related deaths in which COVID-19 was reported as the cause of death had fallen to 72% by August 2022, compared with 99% in the first year of the pandemic. The report says a higher proportion of Australian-born people are now dying of the virus in Australia than during the Delta wave, where Australians born overseas were dying at four times the rate of those born locally.

Media release

From: Australian Bureau of Statistics

New analysis of COVID-19 mortality rates released

New insights into the four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are now available in the Provisional Mortality Statistics report, released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Lauren Moran, ABS Director of Health and Vital Statistics, said this analysis offers detailed information about how the pandemic has impacted people. While almost all COVID-related deaths (99%) in the first year of the pandemic had COVID-19 recorded as the underlying cause, this had fallen to 72% by August 2022. Nearly 80% of deaths from COVID-19 have occurred during the Omicron wave.

“COVID-19 mortality during the pandemic disproportionately affected older people, with deaths among people aged 80-89 accounting for the highest proportion of deaths across all waves."

The first wave and the Delta wave had a younger age distribution for mortality compared to the second wave and Omicron wave. Over half of the deaths during the Delta wave were among people aged under 80, with over a quarter aged under 70. By comparison, around 30 per cent were aged under 80 and 10 per cent were under 70 during the Omicron wave.

“During the Delta wave Australians born overseas had a rate of death close to 4 times higher than that of people born in Australia, with rates particularly high for those born in the Middle East, North Africa and South Eastern Europe," Ms Moran said.

"The disparity decreased during the Omicron wave, and since July 2022 the death rate of those born in Australia has been higher."

COVID-19 mortality rates across all waves have been highest among people from areas of greatest disadvantage, with the highest proportion during the Delta wave at around 40 per cent. This proportion has fallen to around 30 per cent during the Omicron wave.

Comprehensive data and analysis is available for download on the ABS website.

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Media Release Australian Bureau of Statistics, Web page

Research Australian Bureau of Statistics, Web page Provisional Mortality Statistics

Research Australian Bureau of Statistics, Web page COVID-19 Mortality by wave

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Organisation/s: The Australian Bureau of Statistics

Funder: ABS

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