The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the highest life expectancy estimates ever recorded in Australia.

 

Director of ABS Demography, Bjorn Jarvis, said that today's Deaths, Australia, 2011 publication showed that life expectancy figures continued to increase over the ten year period ending 2011.

 

"Under current estimates, a boy born today could expect to live 79.7 years while a girl could expect to live 84.2. A male currently aged 65 could expect to live a further 19 years and female a further 22 years," Mr Jarvis said.

 

"Comparatively Australia is doing really well, our male and female combined life expectancy figure of 81.4 years is higher than the rate in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and the USA according to United Nations estimates.

 

"Of the states and territories, life expectancy is highest in the Australian Capital Territory with 81 for males and 84.8 for females and lowest in the Northern Territory with 74.9 for males and 80.5 for females," he said.

 

The standardised death rate is the lowest ever recorded, falling to 5.6 deaths per 1,000 people in 2011 from 6.6 in 2001.

 

"We have seen death rates fall by around 1 person per 1,000 over the last ten years with falls recorded for both males and females," Mr Jarvis said.

 

There were 146,900 deaths registered in Australia in 2011, a record high number.

 

Further details are in Deaths, Australia, 2011 (cat. no. 3302.0). State, territory and sub-state information is also available for download from the ABS website