Key points
Life expectancy is a key indicator of the general health of the population. Improvements in overall life expectancy reflect improvements in social and economic conditions, lifestyle, access to health services and medical advances.
- Life expectancy in the Waikato Region is similar to the national average.
- Based on the mortality experiences of New Zealanders as a whole in the period 2005–2007, life expectancy at birth was 78.0 years for males and 82.2 years for females.
- Gains in life expectancy since the mid-1980s can be attributed to better living standards and improved public and personal health care.
- There are still marked differences in life expectancy between different ethnic groups, with the life expectancy for Maori at around 8.5 years less than non-Maori.
Life expectancy at birth for New Zealand, Waikato Region and selected territorial authorities
Source: Ministry of Health/Statistics New Zealand Life Tables
Note: Life expectancy is calculated above as the simple average of male and female life expectancy estimates.
What agencies are doing
Information currently being collated.
What you can do to help
Information currently being collated.
More information
More detail on this indicator, including how and where this information is collected, is available here.
What we want to achieve
The community outcomes we are seeking to achieve by improving life expectancy at birth are:
- We are healthy, with active lifestyles and enjoy a total sense of well-being. Everyone has access to affordable quality health services throughout the Waikato region.
- Maori enjoy the same quality of health, education, housing, employment and economic outcomes as non-Maori.