Almost 20,000 more people died in Australia last year than anticipated, with just more than half dying because of COVID-19 as the country recorded the highest number of excess deaths since World War II.
New data from the Actuaries Institute, published on Monday, estimates there was a 12 per cent spike in excess deaths in 2022, with COVID the reason for 10,300 extra deaths and a contributing factor in an additional 2900.
There were 6600 remaining excess deaths with no mention of COVID on the death certificate. Among those figures, ischaemic heart disease – which leads to heart attacks – and cancer were the biggest contributors, leading to 2020 and 970 excess deaths respectively.
The Institute’s COVID-19 mortality working group’s spokeswoman Karen Cutter said 20,000 additional deaths was a very significant number.