NEW ZEALAND HEALTH INFORMATION SERVICE
Mortality: 2005 (final) and 2006-2008 (provisional)
Deaths, raw numbers, total population, 1987–2008.
 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 |
Total | 27430 | 27407 | 27044 | 26524 | 26490 | 27252 | 27209 | 27093 | 27956 | 28379 | 27612 |
Male | 14472 | 14567 | 14332 | 13967 | 13810 | 14573 | 14178 | 14169 | 14528 | 14523 | 14297 |
Female | 12958 | 12840 | 12712 | 12557 | 12680 | 12679 | 13031 | 12924 | 13428 | 13856 | 13315 |
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006* | 2007* | 2008* |
Total | 26457 | 28224 | 26723 | 28134 | 28360 | 28061 | 28636 | 27141 | 28389 | 28600 | 29306 |
Male | 13661 | 14348 | 13817 | 14166 | 14195 | 14066 | 14201 | 13494 | 14023 | 14339 | 14588 |
Female | 12796 | 13876 | 12906 | 13968 | 14164 | 13995 | 14435 | 13647 | 14366 | 14261 | 14716 |
Deaths, WHO age-standardised rates, total population, 1987–2008.
| 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 |
Total | 693.9 | 681.1 | 660.6 | 633.3 | 619.7 | 615.3 | 600.5 | 582.5 | 589.0 | 581.1 | 542.2 |
Male | 872.7 | 865.2 | 835.6 | 795.2 | 775.0 | 792.4 | 754.6 | 737.3 | 741.5 | 723.1 | 679.5 |
Female | 553.7 | 535.0 | 521.5 | 505.6 | 496.6 | 476.3 | 480.2 | 462.5 | 470.8 | 470.7 | 433.3 |
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006* | 2007* | 2008* |
Total | 508.0 | 525.4 | 487.1 | 492.4 | 483.4 | 467.1 | 463.6 | 429.3 | 434.3 | 426.6 | 424.1 |
Male | 634.4 | 648.6 | 608.6 | 606.0 | 589.7 | 567.9 | 556.1 | 514.2 | 517.3 | 511.4 | 503.0 |
Female | 407.5 | 426.9 | 390.6 | 401.8 | 398.1 | 385.2 | 388.2 | 357.2 | 364.3 | 354.5 | 356.2 |
Note: 2002 includes one death of indeterminate sex. 2008 includes two deaths of as yet unassigned sex.
Source: Ministry of Health Mortality Data.
Deaths, raw numbers and WHO age-standardised rates per 100,000, total population, 1950–2008.
* Data for 2005 to 2008 is provisional.
Source: Ministry of Health Mortality Data.
Death rates from all causes of death, by sex and ethnicity, 1996–2006
* Data for 2006 is provisional
Source: Mortality and Demographic Data 2005
Deaths from all causes – totals by age and sex, 2005
Total | Age group (years) | |||||||||
0- | 5- | 10- | 15- | 20- | 25- | 30- | 35- | 40- | ||
Total: | 27141 | 356 | 46 | 48 | 206 | 216 | 176 | 231 | 323 | 489 |
Males: | 13494 | 206 | 21 | 31 | 146 | 158 | 133 | 144 | 198 | 294 |
Females: | 13647 | 150 | 25 | 17 | 60 | 58 | 43 | 87 | 125 | 195 |
Age group (years) | |||||||||
45– | 50– | 55– | 60– | 65– | 70– | 75– | 80– | 85+ | |
Total: | 646 | 837 | 1235 | 1517 | 1922 | 2540 | 3674 | 4710 | 7969 |
Males: | 352 | 498 | 736 | 891 | 1145 | 1504 | 2059 | 2282 | 2696 |
Females: | 294 | 339 | 499 | 626 | 777 | 1036 | 1615 | 2428 | 5273 |
| Source: Mortality and Demographic Data 2005. | |||||||||
Deaths from all causes – totals by age and sex, 2006 (provisional data)
Total | Age group (years) | |||||||||
0- | 5- | 10- | 15- | 20- | 25- | 30- | 35- | 40- | ||
Total: | 28,389 | 367 | 35 | 46 | 199 | 182 | 172 | 211 | 296 | 442 |
Males: | 14,023 | 209 | 24 | 28 | 137 | 134 | 123 | 143 | 178 | 251 |
Females: | 14,366 | 158 | 11 | 18 | 62 | 48 | 49 | 68 | 118 | 191 |
Age group (years) | |||||||||
45- | 50- | 55- | 60- | 65- | 70- | 75- | 80- | 85+ | |
Total: | 667 | 862 | 1264 | 1545 | 2048 | 2710 | 3841 | 4643 | 8859 |
Males: | 381 | 486 | 739 | 933 | 1215 | 1560 | 2133 | 2304 | 3045 |
Females: | 286 | 376 | 525 | 612 | 833 | 1150 | 1708 | 2339 | 5814 |
| Source: Ministry of Health Mortality Data. | |||||||||
Major causes of death in 2005 and 2006
The selection of the cause of death in New Zealand, where more than one cause is entered on a medical certificate of cause of death, is in accordance with the WHO mortality rules and guidelines for Selection of the Underlying Cause of Death. This is largely determined from the statement of the certifying doctor or coroner, but reference is also made to post mortem reports received and cancer registrations. On some occasions, coded hospital inpatient event summaries are compared with the entries on the medical certificate to obtain more specific information. Information is also obtained from letters to certifying doctors, medical records departments, Land Transport New Zealand, Water Safety New Zealand, Media Search, and visits to Coronial Services.
Malignant neoplasms (cancer), ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease were the leading causes of death in New Zealand from 1987 to 2005. In 2005 they collectively accounted for 60.3 percent of deaths (cancer 29.4 percent, ischaemic heart disease 21.4 percent and cerebrovascular disease 9.5 percent).
Major causes of death – numbers and WHO age-standardised rates by ethnicity, 2005.
Cause of death | Total | Maori | Non-Maori | |||
ASR | No. | ASR | No. | ASR | No. | |
| All causes of death | 429.3 | 27141 | 744.3 | 2712 | 400.9 | 24429 |
| Total cancer | 133.5 | 7971 | 216.6 | 760 | 127.3 | 7211 |
| - Lung cancer* | 25.0 | 1451 | 72.2 | 254 | 21.5 | 1197 |
| - Colorectal cancer † | 19.9 | 1222 | 16.1 | 55 | 20.1 | 1167 |
| - Breast cancer | 11.6 | 653 | 16.1 | 61 | 11.3 | 592 |
| - Prostate cancer | 8.2 | 564 | 13.6 | 36 | 8.0 | 528 |
| - Stomach cancer | 4.3 | 256 | 9.7 | 37 | 3.9 | 219 |
| - Cervical cancer | 1.0 | 54 | 3.5 | 13 | 0.8 | 41 |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 83.7 | 5807 | 151.9 | 494 | 78.2 | 5313 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 35.4 | 2587 | 45.6 | 135 | 34.5 | 2452 |
| Chronic lower respiratory diseases | 24.1 | 1601 | 60.3 | 186 | 21.8 | 1415 |
| COPD‡ | 20.9 | 1403 | 51.0 | 153 | 19.0 | 1250 |
| Other forms of heart disease§ | 16.3 | 1148 | 36.1 | 118 | 14.9 | 1030 |
| Transport accidents | 11.8 | 488 | 20.9 | 129 | 10.0 | 359 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 13.4 | 839 | 49.9 | 172 | 10.7 | 667 |
| Intentional self-harm | 12.2 | 511 | 17.2 | 104 | 11.0 | 407 |
| Organic mental disorders | 8.1 | 662 | 4.8 | 10 | 8.1 | 652 |
| Pneumonia and influenza | 4.9 | 382 | 6.9 | 22 | 4.7 | 360 |
| Hypertensive disease | 3.6 | 256 | 9.2 | 29 | 3.2 | 227 |
| Chronic rheumatic heart disease | 2.9 | 175 | 9.6 | 41 | 2.2 | 134 |
| Assault | 1.8 | 71 | 3.7 | 24 | 1.3 | 47 |
| Source: Mortality and Demographic Data 2005. | ||||||
Major causes of death – numbers and WHO age-standardised rates by ethnicity, 2006 (provisional data).
Cause of death | Total | Maori | Non-Maori | |||
ASR | No. | ASR | No. | ASR | No. | |
| All causes of death | 434.3 | 28389 | 769.7 | 2829 | 404.1 | 25560 |
| Total cancer | 132.3 | 8094 | 217.3 | 790 | 125.7 | 7304 |
| - Lung cancer* | 24.7 | 1457 | 63.8 | 235 | 21.8 | 1222 |
| - Colorectal cancer † | 18.9 | 1190 | 17.7 | 57 | 19.0 | 1133 |
| - Breast cancer | 10.8 | 619 | 19.4 | 77 | 10.1 | 542 |
| - Prostate cancer | 8.2 | 559 | 13.1 | 38 | 7.9 | 521 |
| - Stomach cancer | 4.6 | 273 | 12.3 | 48 | 3.9 | 225 |
| - Cervical cancer | 0.9 | 52 | 2.3 | 10 | 0.8 | 42 |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 82.3 | 5912 | 164.9 | 533 | 76.3 | 5379 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 35.7 | 2674 | 42.6 | 135 | 34.7 | 2539 |
| Chronic lower respiratory diseases | 24.7 | 1698 | 53.0 | 179 | 21.3 | 1519 |
| COPD‡ | 21.1 | 1470 | 43.1 | 138 | 19.5 | 1332 |
| Other forms of heart disease§ | 15.6 | 1146 | 27.5 | 96 | 14.4 | 1050 |
| Transport accidents | 10.2 | 450 | 22.3 | 131 | 8.1 | 319 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 13.4 | 860 | 54.3 | 189 | 10.6 | 671 |
| Intentional self-harm | 12.2 | 525 | 18.0 | 108 | 11.0 | 417 |
| Organic mental disorders | 9.1 | 765 | 8.3 | 16 | 9.1 | 749 |
| Pneumonia and influenza | 6.0 | 479 | 5.5 | 17 | 5.9 | 462 |
| Hypertensive disease | 4.4 | 329 | 17.3 | 51 | 3.7 | 278 |
| Chronic rheumatic heart disease | 2.9 | 186 | 7.1 | 29 | 2.5 | 157 |
| Assault | 1.6 | 64 | 4.7 | 30 | 1.0 | 34 |
| Source: Ministry of Health Mortality Data. | ||||||
† Includes cancer of the colon, rectosigmoid junction, rectum, anus, and anal canal.
‡ Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
§ Includes pericardial diseases, valve disorders, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, conduction disorders, cardiac arrest, and heart failure.
Death rates by DHB, total population, WHO age-standardised rates, 2005
Source: Mortality and Demographic Data 2005.
Statistical notes
Age-specific and age-standardised rates
Age-specific rate
An age-specific rate is the rate at which a particular health event (eg death or disease incidence) occurs in each age group of a population as some unit of the population-at-risk or person-years-at-risk.
An age-specific rate is simply the crude rate for the specific age group. For example, to calculate the age-specific rate of a disease for people aged 45 to 49, the total number of cases in the age group is divided by the population in that age group and multiplied by a constant (a unit of population, such as 1000 or, as in this document, 100,000). This process produces death rates showing the number of deaths per 100,000 population in each age group in a particular year.
Age-standardised rate
Age-standardised death rates adjust for differences in age distribution of the populations being compared. Age-standardised rates are artificially created figures that allow comparisons to be made with differing groups. They should only be compared with another adjusted rate that was computed using the same ‘standard’ population.
Age-standardised rates are calculated by multiplying age-specific rates by a standard population. The standard population used in these calculations is WHO World Standard Population (see below). The WHO World Standard Population is a widely used New Zealand and international standard.
Further information on age-specific and age-standardised rates can be found in the Ministry of Health/Public Health Commission document Standardising Rates of Disease
This publication is available online in PDF format from the Ministry of Health: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/standardising-rates-of-disease-1996.
WHO World Standard Population
Age group | Population | | Age group | Population |
| 0–4 | 8860 | | 55–59 | 4550 |
| 5–9 | 8690 | | 60–64 | 3720 |
| 10–14 | 8600 | | 65–69 | 2960 |
| 15–19 | 8470 | | 70–74 | 2210 |
| 20–24 | 8220 | | 75–79 | 1520 |
| 25–29 | 7930 | | 80–84 | 910 |
| 30–34 | 7610 | | 85–89 | 440 |
| 35–39 | 7150 | | 90–94 | 150 |
| 40–44 | 6590 | | 95–99 | 40 |
| 45–49 | 6040 | | 100+ | 5 |
| 50–54 | 5370 | | Total | 100,035 |
Age-standardisation and Māori rates
As noted above, age-standardisation is intended to make two population groups comparable. Different population standards will produce different mortality rates, different rankings for causes of death and different confidence intervals. For example, a study comparing the WHO population standards used in this publication (as well as the Segi population used previously) and a Māori population standard has shown that the all-cause mortality rate for Māori was higher using the WHO standard, and that the relative rankings of some causes of Māori death (eg deaths from external causes) were lower. (Robson et al 2007).
Source:
Mortality and Demographic Data 2005
Ministry of Health Provisional Mortality Data (as at: 03/03/09)
For further information, contact Analytical Services at data-enquiries@moh.govt.nz