Life expectancy increasing in all New Zealand regions
28 July 2015
Life expectancy at birth has increased in all regions since 2005–07, with Hawke's Bay increasing the most, Statistics
New Zealand said today. Life expectancy at birth was highest for females in the Tasman region (84.1 years) and males in
the Auckland region (80.5 years), based on death rates in 2012–14.
"The gap between Māori and non-Māori life expectancy at birth has decreased in all regions since 2005–07," population
statistics manager Jo-Anne Skinner said. "In particular, Otago had the highest Māori life expectancy at birth and the
smallest gap between Māori and non-Māori life expectancy at birth of all the regions."
Nationally in 2012–14, a Māori person was expected to live 7.1 years less than a non-Māori person. In Otago this gap was
just 1.2 years. Life expectancy at birth was approximately 82.3 years for Māori females in Otago, and 78.4 years for
Māori males.
This is the first time we have published Māori and non-Māori life tables by region. It is now possible because of new
methods for deriving the life tables.
For more information about these statistics:
ends