27 July 2023
ASE
[FYI request #23240 email]
Tēnā koe ASE
Official Information Act (OIA) request: Death Statistics
On 28 June 2023
, the Ministry of Health transferred your request to Stats NZ, in accordance
with section 14(b)(i) of the Official Information Act (the Act). You requested, under the Act,
the following information:
For the period of time in which records are available, I am seeking the following
information regarding age of death within New Zealand, per year:
* the average (mean) age of death
* the median age of death
* the mathematical mode of age of death
* the mean absolute deviation of age of death
* the standard deviation of age of death
* the age ranges or percentile ranges that divide the data into ten equal groups based
on the frequency of death, so that each group accounts for 10% of the total deaths
If this information is not held by The Ministry of Health, I would appreciate a dataset
from which this information can be calculated.
Regarding any recent information/data which may not yet have been compiled into
yearly data, I am seeking interim information/data.
Regarding the second point of your request, the median age at death is publicly available on
Infoshare under “Population” > “Deaths – VSD” > “Deaths by age and sex (Annual-Dec)”. At
the end of the “Observation” list, select “Median age at death”. This data has also been
included at the end of this letter, for your ease of reference. Your request for this information
is therefore refused under section 18(d) of the Act on the basis that the information
requested is publicly available.
With regard to the remaining parts of your request, while Stats NZ holds raw data on deaths
registered in New Zealand, your request relates to specific aggregations which are not
regularly produced and therefore not held by Stats NZ.
As such, these aspects of your request are refused under section 18(g) of the Act as the
information you have requested is not held by Stats NZ and I have no grounds to believe that
the information is held by another department or Minister of the Crown or organisation.
Further, in accordance with the Data and Statistics Act 2022 and the Privacy Act 2020, great
care is taken to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of individuals’ data. To ensure this,
statistical data and information is only made available in an aggregated form that does not
contain any identifiable information. On this basis, we cannot provide the raw data on deaths
registered in New Zealand.
However, the aggregations you have requested can be created from the raw data held by
Stats NZ, upon receipt of a customised data request. Please note that there is a
standard
charge of $155 plus GST per hour for customised data requests. If you would like to proceed
with a request, one can be made through contacting Stats NZ’s Information Centre.
You can contact our Information Centre in the following ways:
• By phone – 0508 525 525
• By email –
[email address]
•
Online form
We note that Stats NZ’s Information Centre is often the best place to start seeking statisti cal
information, as the Information Centre exists to help users find the statistical information they
are looking for. Stats NZ’s Information Centre can let you know what data Stats NZ can
provide and show you how to find it. This includes assistance with navigating and retrieving
data from Infoshare, such as those outlined above. This service is free and often results in a
same day response.
Should you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact Stats NZ at:
[email address]. If you are not satisfied with this response, please feel free to contact us or you have the right
to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to mak e a
complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
It is Stats NZ’s policy to proactively release its responses to official information requests where
possible. This letter, with your personal details removed, will be published on the Stats NZ
website. Publishing responses creates greater openness and transparency of government
decision-making and helps better inform public understanding of the reasons for decisions.
Nāku noa, nā
Mike Webb
Senior Manager – Executive & Government Relations | Office of the Chief Executive
Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa
stats.govt.nz
[email address]
toll-free 0508 525 525
stats.govt.nz
8 Willis Street, Wellington
PO Box 2922, Wellington 6140
Median age at death, total both sexes, years ended December 1948 – 2022
Median age at death -
Year ended December Total both sexes
1948
67.4
1949
67.9
1950
68.8
1951
69.1
1952
69.2
1953
69.4
1954
70.1
1955
70.3
1956
71.2
1957
71.2
1958
71.3
1959
71.7
1960
71.7
1961
71.7
1962
72.3
1963
72.3
1964
72.4
1965
71.6
1966
71.7
1967
70.9
1968
71.7
1969
71.6
1970
71.2
1971
71.3
1972
71.6
1973
71.3
1974
71.4
1975
71.3
1976
71.7
1977
71.5
1978
71.5
1979
72.1
1980
72.7
1981
72.4
1982
72.7
[email address]
toll-free 0508 525 525
stats.govt.nz
8 Willis Street, Wellington
PO Box 2922, Wellington 6140
Median age at death -
Year ended December Total both sexes
1983
73.1
1984
73.3
1985
74.0
1986
73.8
1987
74.0
1988
74.5
1989
74.7
1990
74.6
1991
74.9
1992
75.4
1993
75.7
1994
76.0
1995
76.0
1996
76.3
1997
76.5
1998
76.7
1999
77.3
2000
77.5
2001
78.1
2002
78.3
2003
78.5
2004
78.9
2005
79.0
2006
79.3
2007
79.3
2008
79.7
2009
79.8
2010
80.0
2011
80.4
2012
80.6
2013
80.3
2014
80.8
2015
80.7
2016
80.6
2017
80.6
2018
80.5
[email address]
toll-free 0508 525 525
stats.govt.nz
8 Willis Street, Wellington
PO Box 2922, Wellington 6140
Median age at death -
Year ended December Total both sexes
2019
80.5
2020
80.2
2021
80.7
2022
80.9
[email address]
toll-free 0508 525 525
stats.govt.nz
8 Willis Street, Wellington
PO Box 2922, Wellington 6140
