Key statistics: Coronary heart disease

Statistics and information on coronary heart disease in Australia

Coronary heart disease

Coronary heart disease (CHD) occurs when there is a problem with the arteries that supply the heart muscle itself with blood and oxygen. This can lead to chest pain (angina) or a heart attack.

CHD is the leading single cause of death1 and burden of disease2 (a measure of healthy life lost) in Australia.

Explore the statistics relating to CHD below.

Prevalence³

• More than 2% of Australians report they’re living with CHD, accounting for over 590,000 people.
• Men are twice as likely to report living with CHD than women.
• The rate of people with CHD has been decreasing over time.

Deaths¹

• CHD claims more lives than any other long-term health condition and is responsible for around one in ten of all deaths.
• One person loses their life due to CHD approximately every 30 minutes, or on average around 50 people every day.
• Twice as many men die from CHD compared to women.*
• Encouragingly, deaths due to CHD have decreased by an average of 3% per year over the last decade.*

Hospitalisations⁴

• Hospital admission rates for CHD have decreased over the last ten years*, however:
• over 400 people are still hospitalised for CHD every day; this is an average of one person every three to four minutes.
• more than twice as many men are hospitalised due to CHD compared to women.

_{* After adjusting for population size and age distribution.}