The number of Australians receiving kidney replacement therapy has more than doubled over the past two decades, new data shows.

Kidney replacement therapy numbers jumped from 11,700 to 27,700 from 2000 to 2020, showing chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains a significant health issue, particularly among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

CKD is defined as the presence of impaired or reduced kidney function lasting at least three months, according to an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report published on Tuesday.

An estimated 1.7 million Australians are living with early signs of kidney disease, however, many are unaware due to its asymptomatic nature.

AIHW data shows that more than half (14,600) of those receiving kidney replacement therapy were on dialysis and the remainder (13,100) had functioning kidney transplants that required ongoing follow up care.

Approximately 2500 Indigenous Australians with kidney failure received kidney replacement therapy in 2020, a rate of 284 per 100,000, with more than 1 in 4 receiving treatment close to home.

After living with diabetes for 20 years, Ina, an Aboriginal artist from Central Australia, was diagnosed with kidney failure and needed dialysis.

She was forced to relocate from a remote are to Adelaide for treatment, which has been the most difficult thing about living with kidney disease.

"It's very important and pretty difficult to manage. Some of us, some of our families, lose us on this machine," she said.

Dialysis was the most common reason for hospitalisation in Australia from 2019 to 2020, with 1.5 million hospitalisations.

Each dialysis treatment is recorded as a hospitalisation, with most people undergoing three treatments per week.

The elderly and people living in remote and socio-economically disadvantaged areas are identified as having an increased risk of CKD.

"A total of 885 kidney transplant operations were performed in Australia in 2020, with nine in 10 being for first time recipients," AIHW spokesperson Miriam Lum On said.

"Of all transplanted kidneys, 704 (80 per cent) were from deceased donors and 181 (20 per cent) were from living donors."

She added that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted organ donation and transplantation activity in Australia, due to temporary bans on elective surgery.

There was an 18 per cent drop in the number of kidney transplants from deceased donors in 2020 compared with the previous year.

CKD contributed to around 17,700 deaths in 2020, which accounted for 11 per cent of all deaths, according to the AIHW National Mortality Database.