Canberra, Oct 19 (IANS): Australia's death rate remained low in 2021 amid Covid-19 restrictions, new data revealed on Wednesday.

According to the data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there were 171,469 deaths registered in Australia in 2021 at a rate of 507.2 deaths per 100,000 people, reports Xinhua news agency.

It marks a 3.2 per cent increase from the previous year but remained lower than any other year in the last decade.

Heart disease was again the leading cause of death in 2021, followed by dementia, stroke, lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases.

However, the gap between heart disease and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, continues to narrow.

In 2017, the mortality rate of heart disease was 38 per cent higher than that of dementia. In 2021, the gap was just 9 per cent.

Deaths from respiratory diseases including influenza remained low, which was attributed to Covid-19 restrictions preventing their spread.

"Deaths from respiratory diseases remained low in 2021, with the mortality rate of 39.1 deaths per 100,000 people being the second lowest on record. This included just two deaths from influenza. Covid-19 public health measures appeared to suppress the transmission of many common respiratory illnesses in 2020, and this continued in 2021," Lauren Moran, director of ABS mortality statistics, said in a media release.

In 2021, strict measures were taken in Australia to contain the spread of Covid-19, when cities including Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra had been in lockdown for months.

Alcohol-induced deaths increased by 5.8 per cent from 2020 to their highest rate in a decade.