Māori and Pasifika New Zealanders continue to have a lower life expectancy than pākehā and other ethnic groups — but the gap is gradually shrinking, a new report on the state of the nation's health has found.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora released the NZ Health Status Report for 2023 this morning.
It concluded that "overall, Aotearoa New Zealand's population health status is good and improving" — but some key discrepancies in health outcomes continue to be felt.
Latest NZ Health Status Report shows Māori and Pacific Kiwis still have a significantly lower life expectancy than pākehā and other ethnic groups. (Source: 1News)
"Aotearoa New Zealand is one of the few countries to continue to see improvements in life expectancy despite the pandemic: a testament to the outstanding public health response over this time," Health NZ chief executive Fepulea'i Margie Apa said.
"But there are many things we still need to address.
"Significant differences in health outcomes persist, particularly for Māori and Pacific peoples.
"Although it is reducing over time, the gap in life expectancy remains largest for Māori nationally, followed closely by Pacific peoples, when compared to other populations."
The population's average life expectancy is 82 years, with European/Other Kiwis coming in just above that benchmark.
For Māori and Pasifika, the picture remains quite different.
"Māori women die on average seven years earlier than European/Other women, and Māori men eight years earlier than European/Other men," the report found. "The life expectancy gap for Pacific women and men is six years compared to European/Other people."
But Asian Kiwis continue to enjoy longer lives on average than other New Zealanders.
"Asian women live three years longer than European/Other women and Asian men four years longer than European/Other men."
Gender and socioeconomic factors continue to feature in the statistics as well, with women and less deprived New Zealanders living on average longer than men and more deprived Kiwis.
And amid controversy around the Government's plan to wind back anti-smoking measures initiated under the previous government, cigarettes feature as a key contributor to the ethnic discrepancy.
"Māori develop lung cancer 6-8 years earlier than non-Māori on average and at lower exposure to smoking.
"With the incidence of lung cancer for Māori women continuing to rise steeply and an ongoing very high death rate from the disease, it is likely that differences in mortality from lung cancer will persist for some time."
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