Period life tables indicate the life expectancy and mortality and survival experience of people in a specific time period. The downloadable tables on this page provide more detail than the Period Life Tables information release tables.
New Zealand complete period life tables are typically derived every five years for a three-year period centred on a census year for the total New Zealand, Māori, non-Māori, and Pacific male and female populations.
These complement the New Zealand cohort life tables, which track the mortality and survival experience of people born in each year from 1876.
Subnational period life tables are typically derived every five years for a three-year period centred on a census year for the New Zealand regional council, territorial authority and Auckland local board, Māori by regional council, non-Māori by regional council, and NZDep13 areas, male and female populations.
New Zealand abridged period life tables provide an annual indication of trends in life expectancy and the mortality and survival experience at selected ages, until the complete period life tables are available. They are for the total New Zealand male and female populations by age group.
2012–14 period life tables by ethnic group and deprivation index quintiles
We have disaggregated (broken down) the 2012–14 period life tables for regional council and district health board geographic areas by ethnic group. We also disaggregated the life tables for district health boards by quintiles of the NZDep2013 index of deprivation.
This is the first time we've published life tables at these disaggregated levels.
We estimate the life tables using statistical models, which use the available data highly efficiently. However, when the number of counts in each category is small, estimates of the underlying death rates are necessarily imprecise. The amount of uncertainty is indicated by the width of the credible intervals, wider intervals implying greater uncertainty.
When looking at data for small areas, note that mortality rates can be affected by incidental factors, unrelated to the underlying health of the population. For instance, areas with nursing homes tend to have higher mortality.
Note: the 'European or Other' group: includes people who belong to the 'European ' or 'Other' ethnicity groups. People who belong to both groups are only counted once. Almost all people in the 'Other' ethnicity group belong to the New Zealander sub-group.
We welcome feedback from users on the 2012–14 period life tables. Contact the Population Statistics unit at info@stats.govt.nz.
Tables available on this page
If you have problems viewing the files, see opening files and PDFs.
Complete New Zealand period life tables – time series summaries
- Life expectancy (ex) by age and sex, 1950–52 to 2012–14 (Excel, 8 sheets, 254kB)
Topics: Life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, Non-Māori, Pacific, European or Other, and Asian ethnic groups.
- Death rates (mx) by age and sex, 1950–52 to 2012–14 (Excel, 7 sheets, 69kB)
Topics: Death rates by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, Non-Māori, Pacific, European or Other, and Asian ethnic groups.
Complete New Zealand period life tables – Excel outputs
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 2012–14 (Excel, 13 sheets, 439kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, Non-Māori, Pacific, European or Other, and Asian ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 2005–07 (Excel, 9 sheets, 133kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, Non-Māori, and Pacific ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 2005–07 using new 2012–14 methods (Excel, 13 sheets, 443kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, Non-Māori, Pacific, European or Other, and Asian ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 2000–02 (Excel, 7 sheets, 111kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1995–97 (Excel, 7 sheets, 102kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1990–92 (Excel, 7 sheets, 105kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1985–87 (Excel, 7 sheets, 103kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1980–82 (Excel, 7 sheets, 107kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1975–77 (Excel, 7 sheets, 105kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1970–72 (Excel, 7 sheets, 105kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1965–67 (Excel, 7 sheets, 107kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1960–62 (Excel, 7 sheets, 106kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1955–57 (Excel, 7 sheets, 107kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1950–52 (Excel, 7 sheets, 107kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, and Non-Māori ethnic groups.
- Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 1934–38 (Excel, 3 sheets, 50kB)
Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; Non-Māori ethnic groups.
Complete New Zealand period life tables – CSV outputs
Age contribution to changes in life expectancy at birth
Mortality rates by cause of death
Subnational standardised death rates
Subnational abridged period life tables – Excel outputs
Subnational abridged period life tables – CSV outputs
- Regional council abridged period life tables, 1995–97 to 2012–14 (CSV, 1 sheet, 18.6MB)
Topics: Life table functions by regional council; male and female by age group; total, Māori, non-Māori, Pacific, European or Other, and Asian ethnic groups.
- Territorial authority area and Auckland local board area abridged period life tables, 1995–97 to 2012–14 (CSV, 1 sheet, 27.8MB)
Topics: Life table functions by territorial authority area and Auckland local board area; male and female by age group.
District Health Board (DHB) period life tables – CSV outputs
Related information
How long will I live? is a calculator combining historical data from 1876 with the latest national population projections to give an indication of the age you're likely to live to.
New Zealand life tables: 2005–07 describes the methods for producing the 2005–07 life tables and analyses life tables for the period.
Get technical information such as classifications used, survey design, and a glossary of statistical terms from DataInfo+.
Summary results (life expectancy at birth) are also available from Infoshare. Life tables are constructed from death registrations and population estimates.
Page updated 06 January 2016