Cancer statistics for New Zealand: cases, deaths and bowel cancer

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed annually, or sooner if the rules it describes change.

In 2023 New Zealand recorded 29,719 new cancer registrations and 10,676 deaths from cancer, according to Health New Zealand's cancer web tool, which draws on the New Zealand Cancer Registry and the national mortality collection (Health NZ: Cancer web tool, retrieved 20 October 2026). Health NZ marks the 2023 death figure as preliminary. Bowel cancer is the third most-diagnosed cancer in men and the second in women on that page, and it is the second biggest cause of cancer death after lung cancer (Te Aho o Te Kahu: The State of Cancer in New Zealand 2025).

Those are the headline figures. The sections below set out each one with its source and year, say what is not published in a form we can quote, and explain in plain terms what the numbers mean for insurance. The page asks for no personal or health information.

The headline figures

Registrations and deaths come from different parts of the system, so they are not the same people. Someone diagnosed in 2023 may die in a later year, and someone who died in 2023 may have been diagnosed years earlier. Do not divide one by the other to get a "chance of dying".

Te Aho o Te Kahu, the Cancer Control Agency, projects more than 30,000 diagnoses in 2025, rising to more than 45,000 by 2044 (Te Aho o Te Kahu, State of Cancer 2025, key insights). Its report says the count rises because the population is growing and getting older, while the risk of getting any cancer, adjusted for age, has stayed fairly stable.

Which cancers are diagnosed most

Health NZ's 2023 page lists the three most-diagnosed cancers for each sex:

Health NZ: Cancer web tool, retrieved 20 October 2026. Adding the two bowel rows gives 3,438 bowel cancer registrations in 2023; that sum is our arithmetic, not a figure Health NZ prints.

Over the five years 2018 to 2022, Te Aho o Te Kahu names breast, prostate, bowel, melanoma and lung cancer as the five most-diagnosed cancers, together about 60% of all new cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) (State of Cancer 2025).

Which cancers cause most deaths

The ranking changes when you count deaths instead of diagnoses. Te Aho o Te Kahu says lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in New Zealand, followed by bowel, prostate, breast and pancreatic cancers, and that these five cause half of all cancer deaths (deaths 2017 to 2021). Breast and prostate cancers top the diagnosis lists but sit lower on the death list.

Te Aho o Te Kahu, State of Cancer 2025, published December 2025, retrieved 20 October 2026. The report gives the order in words; the death counts behind each cancer are in a chart we cannot reproduce as numbers, so we show the rank only.

Bowel cancer: what the latest report says

• Rates are falling for people of European/other ethnicity (an average 0.9% a year since 2001), flat for Māori, and rising for Pacific peoples (1.6% a year).
• Early-onset bowel cancer, diagnosed under 50, is rising at an average 3.5% a year. It is still much less common than bowel cancer in older people, and the report says the causes are not fully understood.
• The National Bowel Screening Programme finished its national rollout in June 2022 for ages 60 to 74 and is being extended to ages 58 to 59. In August 2024 screening coverage was 57.1% against a 60% target.
• Bowel cancer deaths have been falling for European/other people and, since 2010, for Māori.

Source for all four points: Te Aho o Te Kahu, State of Cancer 2025. For how a bowel cancer history is treated when applying for cover, see our page on insurance after bowel cancer.

Survival, and who is affected unevenly

Five-year net survival across all cancers was 67.6% for people diagnosed in 2020 to 2021, up from 65.5% at the time of the 2020 report and 58.0% in 1998 to 1999. It varies widely by cancer type. Māori are about 1.6 times as likely as European/other people to die from cancer, and people in the most deprived areas are 1.55 times as likely as those in the least deprived (2017 to 2021) (State of Cancer 2025).

What these numbers mean for insurance

Statistics describe a population. They do not tell any one person whether they will be diagnosed, and they do not predict what an insurer will do with an application. What they do show is why cancer is the main reason people look at certain products, and the products pay in different ways.

• Trauma (critical illness) cover pays a lump sum when you are diagnosed with a condition the policy lists. The Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman says trauma cover "will only cover certain specified life-threatening health conditions", so the policy's own definitions decide whether a claim is paid (IFSO: Life insurance). See our trauma insurance guide and cancer insurance page.
• Life cover pays on death. Fully underwritten life cover asks about your health history. Asteron says cover may be possible after cancer when you are otherwise healthy, that terms depend on the type, stage and treatment, and that waiting periods of "anywhere between a year to ten years" can apply depending on the cancer (Asteron: If I had cancer, can I still get life insurance?). Whether any insurer accepts a particular diagnosis is not published, so we do not state one.
• Guaranteed acceptance cover asks no health questions, but it restricts the early years. Momentum Life's Quick Life accepts ages 18 to 65 for $50,000 to $300,000. For the first 2 years it does not pay for death from a pre-existing condition, or for suicide; if someone dies of a pre-existing condition in the first 24 months and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded. The policy wording's glossary defines a pre-existing medical condition as any illness, condition or symptoms you had during the 2 years before the policy started, including anything you had treatment or advice for, so a recent cancer diagnosis or treatment is likely to fall inside it. Quick Life pays on death, accidental death and terminal illness; it has no benefit for a cancer diagnosis. Our page on life insurance with cancer explains this in more detail, and what guaranteed acceptance is sets out the general rules.
• Funeral insurance pays a fixed sum on death. Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance accepts ages 40 to 75, $3,000 to $30,000, with no health questions. For the first 24 months it pays only for accidental death; any other death in that window pays no benefit and all premiums for that person are refunded. Total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral.

Whatever you apply for, answer any health questions fully and accurately. In one case the Ombudsman reviewed, an insurer sought to avoid a policy over two things that were not disclosed, a childhood colonoscopy and an anaemia diagnosis; the case manager found the anaemia material and the complaint settled with half the life benefit ($95,664) paid (IFSO: colon cancer non-disclosure case); see our guide to cancer disclosure and life insurance.

Momentum Life Limited holds an A.M. Best financial strength rating of B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026, which sits in A.M. Best's "Vulnerable" range (Momentum Life: Financial strength). Quick Life and Funeral Insurance are issued by Momentum Life Limited. QuoteHub does not give claims advice and nothing here says a claim will or will not be paid.

How we gathered this

We read Health NZ's cancer web tool page and the Te Aho o Te Kahu State of Cancer 2025 report (published December 2025) on 20 October 2026, and we quote only figures printed in their text. We did not use overseas figures. Health NZ's interactive cancer tool also holds counts by individual cancer type and by age, which are not published as readable text, so we have not copied or estimated them. The most recent registration year available to us is 2023 and the most recent death year in the report is 2021, so these are not this year's numbers. Statistics are restated when the underlying release changes.

If you want to talk through cover with a licensed adviser, advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). This is general information, not personal advice. The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application; QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy through our link (see how we are paid). Back to the statistics hub, or read the companion pages on causes of death and heart disease.

Compare your cover with a licensed NZ adviser · free, no obligation.

Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Cancer Statistics NZ: Bowel, Lung, Breast, Prostate. www.quotehub.co.nz/statistics/cancer-statistics-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

• Health NZ: Cancer web tool
• Health NZ: New Zealand Cancer Registry
• Te Aho o Te Kahu: The State of Cancer in New Zealand 2025
• IFSO: Life insurance
• IFSO: Colon cancer non-disclosure case study
• Asteron Life: If I had cancer, can I still get life insurance?
• Momentum Life: Financial strength

Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Referral.