Leading causes of death in New Zealand

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.

According to Health New Zealand's mortality data, the leading causes of death in New Zealand in 2023 were cancer, ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. Their death rates were 108.7, 41.9 and 18.7 per 100,000 people respectively (Health NZ: Mortality data web tool, retrieved 20 October 2026). Separately, Stats NZ recorded 38,037 deaths registered in the year ended June 2026.

If you are reading this because someone has died, we are sorry. The figures below are population statistics and say nothing about any one person's death. Practical help is further down the page, in what to do when someone dies.

The three leading causes, 2023

Rank	Cause	Rate per 100,000, total population	Rate per 100,000, Māori population
1	Cancer	108.7	160.1
2	Ischaemic heart disease	41.9	66.6
3	Cerebrovascular disease (includes stroke)	18.7	Not in Māori top three
3 (Māori)	Chronic lower respiratory diseases	Not in total top three	39.9

Health NZ: Mortality data web tool, retrieved 20 October 2026. Health NZ states the leading causes for 2023 in these terms for both groups; the rates are as it prints them, and Health NZ describes the 2023 mortality data as preliminary. Health NZ's cancer web tool prints a slightly different 2023 cancer death rate (108.8 per 100,000, against 108.7 here); the two tools are separate releases and we have not reconciled them.

Two cautions about reading this table. First, these are rates, not shares: a rate of 108.7 per 100,000 does not mean 108.7% or any particular percentage of deaths, and we have not converted it. Second, the Māori column is a rate per 100,000 Māori population, so it measures how common the cause is within that population, not how many deaths there were.

How many people die each year

Period	Deaths registered	Source
Year ended June 2026	38,037	Stats NZ, released 18 August 2026
Year ended June 2025	37,323	Stats NZ, released 18 August 2026

Stats NZ: Births and deaths, year ended June 2026, retrieved 20 October 2026. These are all deaths registered, whatever the cause. Stats NZ publishes no cause-of-death breakdown in this release.

The same data, counted two ways

You will see different "leading cause" claims, and they are not contradictions. They count different things.

By individual cause. Health NZ ranks cancer first, then ischaemic heart disease, then cerebrovascular disease, as above. In 2023 cancer caused 10,676 deaths (preliminary), and Te Aho o Te Kahu, the Cancer Control Agency, reports 10,566 cancer deaths in 2021 and describes cancer as the leading cause of death (Health NZ: Cancer web tool; Te Aho o Te Kahu: State of Cancer 2025). Our cancer statistics page has the detail.
By group of causes. The Heart Foundation adds heart disease and stroke together as cardiovascular disease and says that is almost 30% of New Zealand deaths and "the leading cause of death in New Zealand". It cites the Health NZ mortality web tool but gives no year (Heart Foundation: Statistics). See our heart disease statistics page.

Both can be true. Cancer is many diseases counted as one cause, and cardiovascular disease is several causes counted as one group. Which comes first depends on where the line is drawn, which is why we quote each source in its own terms rather than choosing a winner.

Younger ages and external causes

Health NZ's page says data on external causes of death for 2023 (deaths from injury, accidents and similar causes) was not yet available when we read it, so we have no current figure for them to quote. We have also not built a table of leading causes by age bracket. Health NZ's tool holds that breakdown for download, but not as text we could read and check, and filling the gap with an overseas figure or an estimate would break the rule this section follows: every number is from a named New Zealand release.

Health NZ publishes deaths from suspected suicide separately. It reports 602 suspected self-inflicted deaths in New Zealand in 2025/26, an age-standardised rate of 10.5 per 100,000 (Health NZ: Suicide data and statistics). If you are struggling, or worried about someone, call or text 1737 any time to reach a trained counsellor, free (1737 Need to Talk). In immediate danger, call 111.

Where the cause of death appears in practice

A death is registered with Births, Deaths and Marriages. If a funeral director is arranging the funeral they register it for you. Otherwise the person arranging the burial or cremation does, using the cause-of-death certificate from the doctor or a coroner's authorisation. Registering is free, and the fee applies only if you order a certificate (govt.nz: Registering a death). Our page on the death certificate covers the steps and costs, and grief support lists places to turn to.

What cause of death means for cover

The cause matters to an insurance policy, because policies treat causes differently. This is about how the wording of Momentum Life's two guaranteed-acceptance products works, not about any one person's claim.

Funeral Insurance (ages 40 to 75, $3,000 to $30,000, no health questions). For the first 24 months it pays only if death is caused by an accident and happens within 90 days of it. Any other death in that window pays no benefit and all premiums for that person are refunded. After 24 months it pays for death from any cause. It is a fixed sum towards costs: total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. See what funeral insurance is.
Quick Life (ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000, no health questions). For the first 2 years it does not pay for death from a pre-existing condition, or for suicide or intentional self-harm. If death is from a pre-existing condition in the first 24 months and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded. Accidental death is covered from the start. It always excludes deaths from alcohol or drug effects, war, terrorism, criminal activity and listed dangerous jobs and pastimes. Our guide to guaranteed acceptance sets out the general rules.

Momentum Life Limited holds an A.M. Best financial strength rating of B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026, within A.M. Best's "Vulnerable" range (Momentum Life: Financial strength). If cost is the worry after a death, see funeral costs and the Work and Income funeral grant.

How we gathered this

We read Health NZ's mortality and cancer pages and Stats NZ's births and deaths release on 20 October 2026, and quote only figures printed there or in the sources named. The latest cause-of-death year available to us is 2023; counts by cause are held in Health NZ's interactive mortality tool, which we did not use. Health NZ's 2023 cancer mortality is preliminary and may change. The leading-cause lists come from the mortality collection, which codes the underlying cause of death for all registered deaths. We will restate this page when Health NZ publishes a newer year.

This is general information, not advice. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). The buttons below 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 (how we are paid). Back to the statistics hub or see life expectancy in New Zealand.

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Life cover: Conditions you already have aren't covered for the first 2 years (premiums refunded instead). Suicide isn't covered for the first 2 years, and a few conditions can be excluded permanently.

Funeral cover: Only accidental death is covered for the first 2 years. Total premiums can add up to more than the cover, and it may not meet the whole cost of a funeral.

Insurer: Momentum Life Limited. Financial strength rating B (Fair) from AM Best, affirmed 11 February 2026; B ratings sit in AM Best's 'vulnerable' range. The rating scale is available for inspection at every Momentum Life office in New Zealand. What this means

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Adviser's view

Cancer, ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease (the group that includes stroke) were the three leading causes of death in 2023 in Health NZ's published ranking. We do not publish a cause-by-age table because the age breakdown sits inside an interactive tool that we could not read as text, and an estimate would be worse than a gap. What we can give you is each figure with its year, so you can see what is current and what is not.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Causes of Death NZ: Leading Causes, 2023 Data. www.quotehub.co.nz/statistics/causes-of-death-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.