Potential years of life lost in Australia

Australia: Potential years of life lost was 3,438 Years per 100 000 persons in 2024. β–Ό Falling

Latest (2024)
3,438 Years per 100 000 persons
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
28th
of 36 countries
All-time high
11,883 Years per 100 000 persons
in 1970
All-time low
3,406 Years per 100 000 persons
in 2020
Years of data
64
1960–2024

Potential years of life lost in Australia, 1960–2024

4.0k6.0k8.0k10.0k12.0k196019922024

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Years per 100 000 persons.

Analysis

Australia recorded 3,438 Years per 100 000 persons for potential years of life lost in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.1% on the previous year and down 6.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, potential years of life lost in Australia peaked at 11,883 Years per 100 000 persons in 1970 and was at its lowest, 3,406 Years per 100 000 persons, in 2020.

That places Australia 28th out of 36 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 11,666 Years per 100 000 persons 11,503 Years per 100 000 persons 11,872 Years per 100 000 persons 10
1970s 10,360 Years per 100 000 persons 8,762 Years per 100 000 persons 11,883 Years per 100 000 persons 10
1980s 7,638 Years per 100 000 persons 6,953 Years per 100 000 persons 8,546 Years per 100 000 persons 10
1990s 5,783 Years per 100 000 persons 5,178 Years per 100 000 persons 6,550 Years per 100 000 persons 10
2000s 4,416 Years per 100 000 persons 4,028 Years per 100 000 persons 5,000 Years per 100 000 persons 9
2010s 3,684 Years per 100 000 persons 3,480 Years per 100 000 persons 3,910 Years per 100 000 persons 10
2020s 3,469 Years per 100 000 persons 3,406 Years per 100 000 persons 3,616 Years per 100 000 persons 5

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 25 Israel 3,582 Years per 100 000 persons compare
  2. 26 Ireland 3,577 Years per 100 000 persons compare
  3. 27 Denmark 3,576 Years per 100 000 persons compare
  4. 29 Norway 3,284 Years per 100 000 persons compare
  5. 30 Iceland 3,267 Years per 100 000 persons compare
  6. 31 Italy 3,080 Years per 100 000 persons compare

See the full ranking of 46 places β†’

More reference data data for Australia

All data for Australia β†’

Frequently asked questions

What is potential years of life lost in Australia?
Potential years of life lost in Australia was 3,438 Years per 100 000 persons in 2024, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest potential years of life lost recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 11,883 Years per 100 000 persons in 1970.
What is the lowest potential years of life lost recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 3,406 Years per 100 000 persons in 2020.
How does Australia rank for potential years of life lost?
Australia ranks 28th out of 36 countries with data for 2024.
Is potential years of life lost rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is down 6.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Potential years of life lost. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Potential years of life lost in Australia. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/potential-years-of-life-lost/australia/

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About this data

Indicator
Potential years of life lost
Unit
Years per 100 000 persons
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
46 places, 2,490 data points, 1960–2024
Last refreshed

Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) is a summary measure of premature mortality which provides an explicit way of weighting deaths occurring at younger ages, which are, a priori, preventable. The calculation of PYLL involves summing up deaths occurring at each age and multiplying this with the number of remaining years to live up to a selected age limit. The limit of 75 years has been chosen for the calculations in OECD Health Statistics. The selected ICD categories presented in the OECD Health Statistics database are detailed in an Excel file available for download, with codes according to the Tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) along with codes from other ICD revisions used in the WHO Mortality Database. Please refer to the Sources and Methods for detailed country-specific information.