Influenza has surpassed COVID-19 as the leading cause of acute respiratory infection deaths in Australia, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The report was released on March 30 and displays the number of monthly deaths due to COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus from 2024 until February 2026.
In 2025, there were 2,172 deaths involving COVID-19, compared to 5,111 in 2024 and 6,194 in 2023.
In contrast, influenza deaths have surged with 1,738 deaths involving influenza in 2025, compared to 1,045 in 2024 and 612 in 2023.
Overall, in 2025 there were 2,172 deaths involving COVID-19 and 1,738 deaths involving influenza.
Since August the number of deaths involving influenza exceeded the number of deaths caused by COVID-19.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman said in a Medical Republic media release that deaths could have been prevented if more people were vaccinated.
“Influenza has now overtaken COVID-19 as the number one cause for an increasing number of deaths that would have been preventable if increased numbers of vaccines had taken place,” Dr Hoffman said.
This year deaths involving influenza reached 101 in January compared to 69 deaths involving COVID-19.
Deaths involving influenza then fell to 11 in February reflecting a typical seasonal decline but COVID-19 deaths remained relatively low at 21, reinforcing its downward trend.
University of Wollongong Graduate School of Medicine professor, Rowena Ivers said immunisation still remains the only effective way to prevent severe cases of influenza, but that existing vaccines can be outpaced as strains continue to emerge.
“The influenza vaccination is one of the main interventions that we can do in health settings to reduce people ending up in hospitals,” Ms Ivers said.
“It has a very major effect in terms of preventing severe infections but you can obviously still get milder cases of the flu even when you’ve had the influenza immunisation.
“Every year when they formulate the new immunisation it has four or five strains of influenza but of course there are new emerging strains, especially from overseas that can come through as well. The different waves of influenza will emerge at different times.”
Health experts stress that vaccination is the most effective protection against severe illness and death amid the rising rates.
