Heart disease statistics for 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.

About 195,000 New Zealanders live with heart disease, more than one in 23 adults, according to the Heart Foundation, which cites the Ministry of Health's 2023 figures (Heart Foundation: Statistics, retrieved 20 October 2026). Health NZ's 2023 ranking puts ischaemic heart disease second among individual causes of death, with a rate of 41.9 per 100,000 people, behind cancer (Health NZ: Mortality data web tool). Heart disease means conditions affecting the heart, and ischaemic heart disease is the kind caused by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle, including heart attacks.

This page collects the figures that can be checked back to a named source, with the year. It also sets out what they mean for cover: what trauma and life policies do, how Momentum Life's Quick Life and Funeral Insurance treat an existing heart condition, and what none of these figures can tell you.

The headline figures

Measure	Figure	Year or basis	Source
New Zealanders living with heart disease	About 195,000 (more than 1 in 23 adults)	Ministry of Health, 2023	Heart Foundation
Share of deaths from cardiovascular disease	Almost 30%	Mortality web tool, year not stated	Heart Foundation
Frequency of death from heart disease	One every 90 minutes	Mortality web tool, year not stated	Heart Foundation
People hospitalised for a heart attack	Around 12,000 a year (about one every 45 minutes)	Hospital discharge data, 2013 to 2022	Heart Foundation
Women dying of heart disease	More than 2,900 a year (about 8 a day)	Mortality web tool, year not stated	Heart Foundation
Ischaemic heart disease death rate	41.9 per 100,000	2023	Health NZ
Cerebrovascular disease (includes stroke) death rate	18.7 per 100,000	2023	Health NZ

Sources: Heart Foundation: Statistics and Health NZ: Mortality data web tool, retrieved 20 October 2026. The Heart Foundation does not give a year for the mortality figures, so treat them as indicative of recent years, not a particular one.

Where heart disease ranks, and why the answer varies

Health NZ's mortality page says the leading causes of death in 2023 were cancer, ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, in that order. The Heart Foundation counts heart disease and stroke together as cardiovascular disease and calls that group "the leading cause of death in New Zealand". The two statements are not in conflict: one ranks single causes, the other adds a group of related causes together. Our page on the leading causes of death lays the two framings side by side.

Ethnicity

Health NZ gives its 2023 rankings for the Māori population too: cancer, ischaemic heart disease and chronic lower respiratory diseases, at 160.1, 66.6 and 39.9 deaths per 100,000 Māori population. The Māori ischaemic heart disease rate (66.6) is higher than the total population's (41.9). We have not found equivalent published figures for Pacific peoples or European/other New Zealanders as text, so we do not compare them, and we publish no hospitalisation rates by age or ethnicity for the same reason. Health NZ's interactive tool holds more detail, but not in a form we could read and check.

What the figures do not tell you

They are population figures. They say nothing about whether an individual with a heart condition can get cover, or on what terms.
"Living with heart disease" is a broad group. It does not say how severe a condition is or how well it is managed, which is what an insurer looks at.
Heart attack admissions (around 12,000 a year) come from hospital discharge data for 2013 to 2022. The Heart Foundation describes them as admissions and does not say whether a repeat admission for the same person is counted separately.

What this means for cover

Trauma cover pays a lump sum when you are diagnosed with a condition listed in the policy. The Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman says trauma cover covers only specified conditions, for example "only defined cancers and heart attacks" (IFSO: Life insurance), so the wording decides whether a heart event qualifies. See our trauma insurance guide.

Fully underwritten life cover. We found no published insurer terms for a heart diagnosis, and we do not state any. What is published is the process. Fidelity Life's underwriting guide lists an exercise ECG or calcium score among the evidence required at its higher medical-code bands, which are set by the amount of cover, not by a heart diagnosis (Fidelity Life: Underwriting guide), and Partners Life has described heart attacks, strokes and cardiomyopathy as cardiovascular risk factors in its underwriting (RiskinfoNZ, 17 October 2024). Whether cover is offered, and at what price or with what exclusions, depends on the insurer's assessment. Our page on insurance with heart disease goes through the process.

Momentum Life's Quick Life (guaranteed acceptance life cover). Ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000, no health questions at application. For the first 2 years it does not pay for death from a pre-existing condition. Momentum's wording names markers such as a BMI over 40, cholesterol over 7.0, very high blood pressure and diabetes complications, and Momentum's definition of pre-existing covers any illness, condition or symptoms in the 2 years before the policy started, so a heart condition that was diagnosed, treated or noticed in that time is likely to count. If a person dies of a pre-existing condition in the first 24 months and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded. Accidental death is covered from the start, and after 2 years death from any cause is covered, except a few conditions that can be excluded permanently in the policy schedule. It also pays on terminal illness expected to lead to death within 12 months. It has no benefit for a heart attack or other diagnosis. See Quick Life.

Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance. Ages 40 to 75, $3,000 to $30,000, no health questions. It has no pre-existing-condition clause, but for the first 24 months it pays only for accidental death within 90 days of the accident. Any other death in that window, including from heart disease, pays no benefit and all premiums for that person are refunded. After 24 months it pays on death from any cause. Total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. See what funeral insurance is.

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). Neither product accepts new applicants over the entry ages above, and a healthy person can usually get more cover for less through fully underwritten cover from a licensed adviser.

If a stroke is the question, see life insurance with stroke.

How we gathered this

We read the Heart Foundation statistics page and Health NZ's mortality page on 20 October 2026 and quote only what is printed there. We did not use overseas figures. The Heart Foundation cites the Health NZ mortality web tool without a year for three of its figures, which is why the table says "year not stated". We have no source for deaths or hospitalisations by age group, or for the share of heart-disease deaths by ethnicity, so those are left out rather than estimated. The next scheduled review is a year from now, or sooner if Health NZ publishes a newer year of mortality data.

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 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 (how we are paid). Back to the statistics hub, or read cancer statistics.

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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

Already have cover? Keep it. New cover won't pay for a condition you already have in its first 2 years.

Opens Momentum Life's online application; its guidance only covers eligibility. QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy. General information, not advice.

Adviser's view

Heart disease is the second biggest single cause of death in Health NZ's 2023 ranking, behind cancer, and the Heart Foundation counts all cardiovascular disease together at almost 30% of deaths. For insurance the useful point is narrower: we found no published New Zealand insurer terms for a heart diagnosis, guaranteed acceptance cover asks no health questions but holds back for the first two years, and a past heart condition should never be assumed to be accepted or declined until an insurer has assessed it.

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

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Heart Disease Statistics NZ: Deaths and Prevalence. www.quotehub.co.nz/statistics/heart-disease-statistics-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

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