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New Zealand life expectancy increases

Statistics New Zealand

Monday 10 November 2008, 12:03PM

By Statistics New Zealand

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The life expectancy of New Zealanders continues to rise, Statistics New Zealand said today.

  • A newborn girl can expect to live 82.2 years and a newborn boy 78.0 years, based on deaths in New Zealand in 2005–07.
  • This is an increase of 1.0 years for females and 1.7 years for males since 2000–02.
  • Females can expect to outlive males by 4.1 years based on deaths in 2005–07, down from the largest difference of 6.4 years in 1975–77.
  • Maori life expectancy at birth is about 8.2 years lower than for non-Maori. A newborn Maori girl can expect to live 75.1 years and a
  • newborn Maori boy 70.4 years, compared with 83.0 years for a non-Maori girl and 79.0 years for a non-Maori boy.
  • The longevity gap between Maori and non-Maori has closed slightly. The difference in life expectancy at birth of 8.2 years in 2005–07 compares with 8.5 years in 2000–02 and 9.1 years in 1995–97.

Based ondeaths in 2005–07, a newborn girl can expect to live 82.2 years and a newborn boy 78.0 years. This is anincrease of 1.0 years for females and 1.7 years for males since 2000–02.

However, if death rates continueto fall in the future, a baby born now is likely to live longer than indicated by these latest life expectancies.

Over the last 30 years, life expectancy at birth has increased more for males than females.

Females canexpect to outlive males by 4.1 years based on deaths in 2005–07, down from the largest difference of 6.4years in 1975–77.

Mori death rates are higher than non-Mori death rates at all ages. As a result, life expectancy at birth forfemales of Mori ethnicity was 75.1 years in 2005–07, compared with 83.0 years for non-Mori females. Formales, life expectancy at birth was 70.4 years for Mori and 79.0 years for non-Mori.

This is an averagedifference between Mori and non-Mori of 8.2 years in 2005–07, slightly less than the 8.5 years in2000–02 and 9.1 years in 1995–97.

Life expectancies for other ethnic groups, such as the broad Asian and Pacific ethnic groups, are unavailable because of the relatively small size of these ethnic populations and relatively few deathregistrations.