21 March 2023
Robert Spoors
[FYI request #21603 email]
Tēnā koe Robert,
Your request for official information reference: HNZ00012165
Thank you for your email of 23 February 2023 asking for the following which has been considered
under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“Kindly provide ACM deaths for the year of 2019 (Christchurch) and the 5-year average
previously for the same city, so 2014 - 2019. Kindly provide also cause/s of death for that
year, 2019”.
Response to your request
We can provide the total number of deaths until 2019. The latest year for which cause of death
information is available is 2018.
After the close of a calendar year, there is a 12-18 month process to assign cause of death codes
to the majority of deaths in that year. Te Whatu Ora’s clinical coding team reviews the death
certificate and health history of the deceased to assign cause of death codes. Approximately 10%
of deaths are referred to the Coroner each year to determine cause. Deaths that require a coronial
inquiry can take 2-3 years, or longer, for cause of death to be assigned. We do not make mortality
data available publicly until the majority of deaths have been assigned a cause of death, so that
the data we release is complete and accurate. The Chief Coroner has noted delays in the time it is
taking them to assign cause of death codes.
Please note we have provided data for the Christchurch Territorial Authority area, as defined by
Stats NZ. Their definition is here:
https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz/layer/106668-territorial-authority-
2022-generalised/.
Table 1: Total number of deaths for the Christchurch Territorial Authority area
Year
Total number of deaths
2014
2,882
2015
2,807
2016
2,711
2017
2,948
2018
2,751
2019
2,941
Table 2: Breakdown of cause of deaths in Christchurch Territorial Authority area 2014-2018:
Cause of death
2014
2015
2016
2017 2018
01
Certain infectious and parasitic diseases
38
25
25
19
13
(A00-B99)
02
Neoplasms (C00-D48)
812
796
712
822
796
03
Diseases of blood and blood-forming organs
8
6
6
5
8
and certain disorders involving the immune
mechanism (D50-D89)
04
Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases
81
76
67
83
59
(E00-E89)
05
Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99)
180
173
209
247
226
06
Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G99)
155
159
170
195
178
07
Diseases of the eye and adnexa (H00-H59)
1
09
Diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99)
989
986
886
933
862
10
Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99)
277
246
278
262
242
11
Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K93)
84
85
80
73
76
12
Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous
16
6
5
1
4
tissue (L00-L99)
13
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and
24
22
30
18
17
connective tissue (M00-M99)
14
Diseases of the genitourinary system (N00-
35
30
31
36
31
N99)
15
Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium
1
(O00-O99)
16
Certain conditions originating in the perinatal
8
9
8
8
16
period (P00-P96)
17
Congenital malformations, deformations and
15
19
15
14
18
chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
18
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and
15
11
45
36
35
laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
(R00-R99)
20
External causes of morbidity and mortality
145
158
143
195
170
(U50-Y98)
Total
2,882
2,807
2,711
2,948 2,751
Table Notes:
• Data extracted 13 March 2023.
How to get in contact
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Te Whatu Ora may
proactively release a copy of this response on our website. All requester data, including your name
and contact details, will be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Gaynor Bradfield
Manager
Office of the Chief Data and Digital
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Te Whatu Ora, PO Box 793,
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
