Summary

Highlights  

  • In Australia, there are more deaths in the winter months of June, July and August, and less deaths in the summer months of December, January and February. In 1999, each day in August averaged 400 deaths, whereas each day in February averaged 316 deaths.
  • The very young and the very old are more likely to die in winter.
  • Diseases of the circulatory system, pneumonia and influenza and sudden infant death syndrome are all highly seasonal causes of death, occurring more often in winter. Common causes of death among young adults such as from motor vehicle accidents, suicide, drowning and assault are more likely to occur in warmer months.
  • Deaths in Australia occur most frequently on Friday or Saturday. However, heart attack and suicide deaths occur most frequently on Monday, whereas motor vehicle traffic accident deaths occur most frequently on weekends.
  • Although excess winter deaths predominated for most of the twentieth century, the nineteenth century saw an excess in summer deaths. This excess disappeared in parallel with the decline of infectious and parasitic diseases, and the rise in diseases such as circulatory and respiratory disease, which were more likely to cause death in colder months.