Trends and geographic differences in life expectancy in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multiple cause of death analysis.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: During the pandemic, Australia experienced relatively stringent restrictions and a distinctive life expectancy trend.This study assesses the contribution of multiple causes of death to these trends, as well as geographic differences in life expectancy, during the pandemic across Australia. METHODS: Data on deaths by age, sex, cause and capital city classification in Australian death registration data from 2017 to 2023 were accessed from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We estimated life expectancy at birth and applied decomposition techniques to quantify the contribution of multiple causes of death to changes in life expectancy, including by capital city. Multiple cause of de..