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Australia and New Zealand

The statistics for osteoporosis prevalence and costs in Australia and New Zealand are comparable with those of Europe and the United States.  Osteoporosis in New Zealand affects more that half of all women and nearly a third of all men over the age of 60. In New Zealand more than 3,000 New Zealanders break a hip each year. This figure is expected to rise to 4,800 in ten years' time as the population ages.  In Australia, as at 2001, nearly two million Australians were affected by this disease - three quarters of those affected are women.  If nothing is done, it is estimated that by 2021 the number of people affected in Australia will have increased to 3 million, with a fracture every 3.5 minutes.

Pohutukawa tree, New Zealand
Uluru, Australia


Australia

Further information regarding the status of osteoporosis in Australia can be found in the white paper report entitled "The Burden of Brittle Bones: Costing Osteoporosis in Australia". This landmark document commissioned by Osteoporosis Australia and published in 2001, provided new statistics for the burden and costs of disease in Australia that have proved to be of enormous help in lobbying efforts. An update to this document "White Paper ­ 'The Burden of Brittle Bones' (2007)" (PDF, 1.99 MB), was produced by The Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Western Hospital, Footscray, Victoria. 2008.

New Zealand

A White Paper report, "The Burden of Osteoporosis in New Zealand: 2007-2020" (PDF, 1009.8 KB) was commissioned by Osteoporosis New Zealand. The report estimates that a fracture occurs in New Zealand every 6 minutes, and if nothing is done, this will increase to 120,000 people with fractures by 2020, with a fracture every 41/2 minutes. The report estimated the direct cost of treating fractures to be over $300 million per annum.


 

Key facts and statistics for this region

  • Australia: 2.2 million Australians are affected by osteoporosis (167). About 11% of men and 27% of women aged 60 years or more are osteoporotic, and 42% of men and 51% of women are osteopenic (166).
  • Australia: The lifetime risk of osteoporotic fracture after 50 years of age: 42% in women, 27% in men (167).
  • Australia: There are 20,000 hip fractures per year in Australia (increasing by 40% each decade) (167).
  • Australia: Total costs relating to osteoporosis are $7.4 billion per year of which $1.9 billion are direct costs (167).
  • New Zealand: There were an estimated 84,000 osteoporotic fractures in 2007, with 60% of these occurring in women. Hip fractures were estimated to account for 5% of all fractures (141).
  • New Zealand: The total cost of osteoporosis is estimated to be over $1.15 billion per year (141).
  • New Zealand: It is estimated that both the number of osteoporotic fractures and the cost of healthcare associated with osteoporosis will increase by over 30% between 2007-2020 (141).

Guidelines

If you represent a national osteoporosis society and your country or region has evidence-based guidelines that you would like to include on the IOF website, please contact
Prof. J. E. Compston at info@iofbonehealth.org

IOF does not officially endorse national or regional guidelines. This is because osteoporosis prevalence and some aspects of the prevention and treatment of fractures are country or region-specific. There may be multiple guidelines from any one country or region.

See listing of national and regional guidelines around the world, including references and links to full text.
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