How healthy are Queenslanders?

Want to know the current state of health in Queensland?

Look no further than The Health of Queenslanders: Report of the Chief Health Officer Queensland 2025 edition, an interactive report that examines how healthy Queenslanders really are and explores the future of public health .

The Health of Queenslanders report provides  an assessment on the health status of Queenslanders, which helps to inform health policy development and program planning.

For example, the detailed data can help determine what conditions or diseases need more awareness, where preventive health funding should be targeted in coming years, and even what demand is expected in our hospitals for chronic diseases.

If you haven’t got time to read the whole report, the good news is we read it for you and found the most interesting facts and figures.

Positively, Queenslanders born now will live longer than those born two decades ago, and the mortality rate for most cancers has also decreased.

On the flipside, dementia is fast becoming the leading cause of death among Queenslanders and self-reported mentally unhealthy days are on the rise.

While the previous report in 2023 was headlined by the response and outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s report is focused on the future of public health .

Here’s the lowdown on key figures, facts, and findings.

Physiotherapist and student assist patient in rehabilitation.

Key findings

Here’s the latest health status evidence for health policy in 2025 and beyond.

• The 53 per cent decline in daily tobacco smoking since 2002 has saved the lives of tens of thousands of Queenslanders, but now there has been an increase in vaping, especially among young people, despite rising evidence of potential harms.
• Being overweight or obese has overtaken tobacco use as the leading modifiable risk factor for total health burden  (not just burden calculated on the health sector, but burden overall). In 2022, more than two-thirds of Queensland adults were  overweight or obese.
• While data shows that death from coronary heart disease decreased by 63.4 per cent between 2002 to 2022 and may soon cease to be Queensland’s leading cause of death – it means that another condition will take its place. It’s expected that dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, may soon become the leading cause of death for all Queenslanders, with death rates from dementia increasing by a whopping 160.3 per cent between 2002 and 2022.
• While mortality from many cancers is declining, the rates of some cancers — notably colorectal and pancreatic cancers — are increasing in young people. This is a trend not only being seen in Queensland and Australia, but globally.
• Vaccines, along with improvements in sanitation and hygiene, reduce the spread of infectious diseases worldwide and save millions of lives each year. Despite this, childhood immunisation rates have fallen since 2020 putting more and more Queenslanders at risk of serious illness from vaccine preventable diseases.

Mother in consultation with nurse regarding flu immunisation for her young son at Queensland Children’s Hospital.

• Maternal smoking is on a declining trend, but the number of mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes has more than doubled from 2012 to 2022. Gestational diabetes can affect both mum and bub, leading to potential complications for both.
• There continues to be a gap in health and wellbeing outcomes between those living in Queensland’s cities and those in regional  and remote communities.

You can deep dive some of these issues here.

Snapshot of the Health of Queenslanders 2025 Report

The report’s key findings reflect our changing and ageing society.

Key improvements found in The Health of Queenslanders 2025 report.

While many results in the report are overwhelmingly positive, it’s not all good news.

To  see the full results, you can view the Health of Queenslanders 2025 report at choreport.health.qld.gov.au or read our take on key issues here .