CivicNZ

CivicNZ · NZ Index · Health

Are we getting healthier?

On the latest official series, more tracked topics are better than worse. Each verdict uses the published CivicNZ trend rule — never hand-set.

Data as of 23 Sept 2026 · Official sources only · Non-partisan

Better

4

Worse

2

Flat

1

Insufficient

2

How we decideHealth promisesNZ Index

Nine topics

Plain answers, not tables

Life expectancy

Better

Are New Zealanders living longer?

Stats NZ’s abridged period life table for 2023–2025 gives female life expectancy at birth of 83.7 years and male 80.4 years. Female life expectancy was 83.5 in 2022–2024. Recent gains are small and the gap between groups is still large.

83.7 years (female) · as of 18 Feb 2026

Amenable mortality and ASH admissions

Worse

Are fewer people ending up in hospital for things primary care can treat?

Official Māori amenable mortality was 123.8 per 100,000 in 2018–20 versus 52.8 for non-Māori (Tatau Kahukura; age-standardised). Pacific amenable mortality halved from 281.1 to 151.1 between 2000 and 2020. Child ASH admissions were 23,206 in 2025. The 375.6 figure on older pages was all-cause age-standardised mortality per 100,000 in 2023, not avoidable mortality. OECD treatable/preventable mortality is not published for New Zealand.

23,206 admissions · as of 1 Aug 2026

ED wait times

Better

Are emergency departments meeting the six-hour target?

76.3% of patients left ED within six hours in Q4 2025/26, up from 73.9% in the same quarter a year earlier (Health NZ). That missed the 77% milestone. The published 2030 target is 95%.

76.3 % · as of 30 Jun 2026

Elective and first specialist waits

Better

Are planned care waits getting shorter?

In Q4 2025/26, 66.1% of people waited under four months for a first specialist assessment (62.0% in the same quarter a year earlier) and 72.6% for elective treatment (63.9% a year earlier). Both national series sit below the 95% target.

66.1 % · as of 30 Jun 2026

Cancer treatment timeliness

Insufficient

Are people starting cancer treatment on time?

Faster Cancer Treatment reached 87.0% in Q4 2025/26, meeting the year milestone and approaching the 90% target. Official district results that quarter ranged from 77.8% (West Coast) to 96.2% (Waikato).

87 % · as of 1 Aug 2026

Immunisation coverage

Better

Are children fully immunised by two years?

Health NZ’s Q4 2025/26 result is 83.7% fully immunised at 24 months, up from 82.0% in the same quarter a year earlier. Coverage remains below the 95% target, with a large Māori gap on the last ethnicity split (Q2 2025/26).

83.7 % · as of 23 Sept 2026

Diabetes, obesity and smoking

Flat

Are long-term conditions and risk factors moving the right way?

Daily smoking has fallen sharply. Adult obesity is high and up. Diagnosed diabetes is rising after age-standardisation. PHO enrolment is high nationally and lower for Māori and the most deprived neighbourhoods. 76.2% of adults visited a GP in 2024/25; 14.9% did not go because of cost.

6.8 % · as of 1 Aug 2026

Mental health and suicide

Insufficient

Is psychological distress falling, and are suicide rates falling?

High or very high psychological distress has more than tripled since 2011/12. The latest suspected-suicide rate is similar to last year and below 2018/19.

14.3 % · as of 1 Aug 2026

Notifiable diseases

Worse

Are preventable infectious diseases under control?

Pertussis notifications rose from 141 in 2023 to 1,748 in 2024 (EpiSurv). Campylobacteriosis remains the largest bacterial enteric series. Notifications rise when testing or awareness rises.

1,748 notifications · as of 24 Feb 2025

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Notable findings

Statistically notable changes or gaps. Each card carries an evidence-strength rating and a caveat. No causal claims.

Confounder transparency

Raw gap beside official adjusted gap

Every ethnicity, region, and deprivation comparison lists the measured factors: age, NZDep, obesity, smoking, diabetes, rurality, and access to care. If the official table does not adjust, we say so.

ethnicity

Period life expectancy at birth, females

Raw

5.5 years shorter

Adjusted

Not published

Neither system-bias nor lifestyle claims without direct evidence.

deprivation

Period life expectancy at birth, females

Raw

9.1 years shorter

Adjusted

Not published

Neither system-bias nor lifestyle claims without direct evidence.

region

Diabetes prevalence (Virtual Diabetes Register)

Raw

26.1 per 1,000 higher

Adjusted

26.1 per 1,000 (already age-standardised to the WHO world standard)

Neither system-bias nor lifestyle claims without direct evidence.

All group comparisons

Association, not causation

Vote Health beside the outcomes

These figures sit next to each other. They are not a cost-effectiveness study and they do not say that spending caused the change. Population growth, wages, COVID-19, definition changes, and other Votes all move at the same time.

$31,052mVote Health 2025/26 · as of 22 May 2025

Promises Tracker

Wording stays on the tracker. Numbers stay here.

Coalition health clauses — wait-time targets, cancer treatment, smokefree law — are tracked on the Promises Tracker. This page does not score those promises. It publishes the official outcome series they sit next to.

Open health promises