Key Statistics: Heart Failure

Heart failure is a condition when the heart is not pumping blood around the body as well as it could. 

Prevalence¹

• 110,000 (0.5%) people live with heart failure, with prevalence starting to trend downwards over time. 

• Almost twice as many men experience heart failure compared to women. 

Deaths²

• Heart failure accounts for almost one in 50 deaths, equating to one person dying of heart failure every three hours, or eight deaths each day being due to heart failure. 

• Deaths from heart failure have been decreasing over time, with more females dying of heart failure than males. 

Hospitalisations³

• 179 people are hospitalised due to heart failure per day, equating to one person every eight minutes. 

• Hospitalisations due to heart failure have remained relatively steady over the last decade, with similar number of males and females being admitted to hospital for heart failure. 

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018, National Health Survey 2017-18, Data customised using TableBuilder 

2. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2020, Causes of death 2019, cat. No. 3303.0, October 

3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2020, National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD)