Causes of mortality in New Zealand

New Zealand: Causes of mortality was 32,787 Deaths in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
32,787 Deaths
Change on year
down 4.9%
World rank
33rd
of 36 countries
All-time high
34,487 Deaths
in 2019
All-time low
20,892 Deaths
in 1960
Years of data
61
1960–2020

Causes of mortality in New Zealand, 1960–2020

010.0k20.0k30.0k196019902020

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Deaths.

Analysis

New Zealand recorded 32,787 Deaths for causes of mortality in 2020.

That represents a change of down 4.9% on the previous year and up 14.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, causes of mortality in New Zealand peaked at 34,487 Deaths in 2019 and was at its lowest, 20,892 Deaths, in 1960.

New Zealand ranks 33rd of 36 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 61 years of available data.

Causes of mortality in New Zealand, year by year

Annual values for Causes of mortality in New Zealand, 1960 to 2020.
Year Deaths Change
1960 20,892 Deaths
1961 21,782 Deaths +4.3%
1962 22,081 Deaths +1.4%
1963 22,416 Deaths +1.5%
1964 22,861 Deaths +2.0%
1965 22,976 Deaths +0.5%
1966 23,778 Deaths +3.5%
1967 23,007 Deaths -3.2%
1968 24,464 Deaths +6.3%
1969 24,161 Deaths -1.2%
1970 24,840 Deaths +2.8%
1971 24,309 Deaths -2.1%
1972 24,793 Deaths +2.0%
1973 25,290 Deaths +2.0%
1974 25,254 Deaths -0.1%
1975 25,115 Deaths -0.6%
1976 25,450 Deaths +1.3%
1977 25,966 Deaths +2.0%
1978 24,678 Deaths -5.0%
1979 25,373 Deaths +2.8%
1980 26,688 Deaths +5.2%
1981 25,147 Deaths -5.8%
1982 25,547 Deaths +1.6%
1983 26,007 Deaths +1.8%
1984 25,383 Deaths -2.4%
1985 27,484 Deaths +8.3%
1986 27,052 Deaths -1.6%
1987 27,430 Deaths +1.4%
1988 27,407 Deaths -0.1%
1989 27,044 Deaths -1.3%
1990 26,524 Deaths -1.9%
1991 26,490 Deaths -0.1%
1992 27,252 Deaths +2.9%
1993 27,211 Deaths -0.2%
1994 27,095 Deaths -0.4%
1995 27,956 Deaths +3.2%
1996 28,379 Deaths +1.5%
1997 27,611 Deaths -2.7%
1998 26,457 Deaths -4.2%
1999 28,224 Deaths +6.7%
2000 26,718 Deaths -5.3%
2001 28,128 Deaths +5.3%
2002 28,359 Deaths +0.8%
2003 28,061 Deaths -1.1%
2004 28,645 Deaths +2.1%
2005 27,141 Deaths -5.3%
2006 28,389 Deaths +4.6%
2007 28,601 Deaths +0.7%
2008 29,312 Deaths +2.5%
2009 29,204 Deaths -0.4%
2010 28,649 Deaths -1.9%
2011 30,290 Deaths +5.7%
2012 30,277 Deaths -0.0%
2013 29,636 Deaths -2.1%
2014 31,164 Deaths +5.2%
2015 31,796 Deaths +2.0%
2016 31,398 Deaths -1.3%
2017 33,614 Deaths +7.1%
2018 33,316 Deaths -0.9%
2019 34,487 Deaths +3.5%
2020 32,787 Deaths -4.9%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 22,842 Deaths 20,892 Deaths 24,464 Deaths 10
1970s 25,107 Deaths 24,309 Deaths 25,966 Deaths 10
1980s 26,519 Deaths 25,147 Deaths 27,484 Deaths 10
1990s 27,320 Deaths 26,457 Deaths 28,379 Deaths 10
2000s 28,256 Deaths 26,718 Deaths 29,312 Deaths 10
2010s 31,463 Deaths 28,649 Deaths 34,487 Deaths 10
2020s 32,787 Deaths 32,787 Deaths 32,787 Deaths 1

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  1. 30 Israel 49,654 Deaths compare
  2. 31 Norway 43,233 Deaths compare
  3. 32 Ireland 35,598 Deaths compare
  4. 34 Costa Rica 28,995 Deaths compare
  5. 35 Luxembourg 4,153 Deaths compare
  6. 36 Iceland 2,613 Deaths compare

See the full ranking of 46 places →

More health data for New Zealand

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is causes of mortality in New Zealand?
Causes of mortality in New Zealand was 32,787 Deaths in 2020, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest causes of mortality recorded in New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 34,487 Deaths in 2019.
What is the lowest causes of mortality recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 20,892 Deaths in 1960.
How does New Zealand rank for causes of mortality?
New Zealand ranks 33rd out of 36 countries with data for 2020.
Is causes of mortality rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is up 14.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this New Zealand data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Causes of mortality. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Causes of mortality in New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 26 August 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/causes-of-mortality/new-zealand/

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About this data

Indicator
Causes of mortality
Unit
Deaths
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
46 places, 2,503 data points, 1960–2024
Last refreshed

This dataset presents the number of deaths and age-standardised death rates by causes of deaths. The number of deaths according to sex and selected causes are extracted from the World Health Organization Mortality Database available at https://www.who.int/data/data-collection-tools/who-mortality-database. Detailed information on the coverage and reliability of the cause-of-death data is regularly published in World Health Statistics Annuals. The selected causes of death presented in the OECD Health Statistics database are detailed in an Excel file available for download, with codes according to the Tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) along with codes from other ICD revisions used in the WHO Mortality Database. Please refer to the Sources and Methods for detailed country-specific information.