This report presents a holistic summary of health in Australia with key findings on the health system, the health of Australians and factors that can influence our health.

It is the 18th biennial health report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Key findings:

• Australians are living longer – life expectancy at birth was 83.0 years in 2020, the sixth highest among the 38 OECD countries.
• Older Australians use a higher proportion of hospital and other health services and 54% of all subsidised medicines were dispensed to people aged 65 and over.
• In 2020–21, almost half (47%, or 11.6 million) of Australians were estimated to have one or more common chronic health conditions (including diabetes, cancer, mental and behavioural conditions, and chronic kidney disease).
• Expanding waistlines are a problem - 2 in 3 adults (67%) are either overweight or obese, while carrying excess weight is responsible for 8.4% of our total disease burden.