Life expectancy in New Zealand: the number everyone quotes, and the one that applies to you

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed quarterly, when the underlying data is restated.

Life expectancy at birth in New Zealand is 80.4 years for boys and 83.7 years for girls, on Stats NZ's latest period measure, which uses death rates in 2023 to 2025 (Stats NZ, Births and deaths: Year ended December 2025, released 17 February 2026, retrieved 20 October 2026). The age at which half of deaths have already happened is a different number: the median age at death in 2025 was 79 for males and 83 for females.

Life expectancy is an average length of life, worked out from the death rates of a chosen period, and it comes in more than one form. The period measure at birth, which is the one in most headlines, applies one period's death rates to every age at once and describes no real person. The period measure at a given age, such as 65, answers the more useful question of how long someone who has already reached that age can expect to live. The cohort measure follows people born in the same years and includes the improvement in death rates over their lifetimes, which is why Stats NZ calls cohort life tables the most authoritative measure of life expectancy. The median age at death is not an expectancy at all: it is simply the age that splits the year's recorded deaths in half. Each answers a different question, and mixing them is the commonest error.

The latest period figures (2023 to 2025)

Measure	Male	Female
Life expectancy at birth	80.4 years	83.7 years
Life expectancy at 65 (age reached)	84.7 years	86.8 years
Life expectancy at 65 (further years)	19.7 years	21.8 years

Stats NZ, abridged period life table 2023 to 2025, released 17 February 2026, retrieved 20 October 2026.

Stats NZ says life expectancy at birth was 0.3 years higher for both sexes than in the 2022 to 2024 complete tables (80.1 years for males and 83.5 for females), and that this follows a period between 2017 to 2019 and 2022 to 2024 "when there was virtually no change in life expectancy". The 2023 to 2025 table is an abridged one. Stats NZ publishes the fuller five-yearly tables, including ethnic groups and regions, separately.

What age do most people actually die?

Life expectancy and the age at death are not the same thing, and the second is the one most people mean by "at what age do most people pass away".

Age at death measure	Male	Female	Source and year
Median age at death, 2025	79	83	Stats NZ, released 17 February 2026
Median age at death, 1985	71	77	Same release
Median age at death, 1955	69	72	Same release

Stats NZ, Births and deaths: Year ended December 2025, retrieved 20 October 2026.

Stats NZ adds that "nearly 2 in every 3 deaths in 2025 were of people aged 75 years and older, and around 1 in 5 deaths was of people aged 90 years and older". It also notes that the female median peaked at 83.5 years in 2012 and has dropped slightly since, while the male median has risen most years. The number of deaths each year is on our death statistics hub, and the leading causes are on causes of death in New Zealand.

The two older measures, side by side

Stats NZ's cohort tables, updated in March 2026, follow real birth cohorts rather than one period's death rates. The table below is the one in our downloadable CSV, so it keeps the earlier 2022 to 2024 period figures next to the cohort figures.

Measure	Male	Female	What it describes
Period, at birth, 2022 to 2024	80.1 years	83.5 years	A hypothetical life lived entirely at those years' death rates
Cohort, born early 1960s	about 79 years	about 83 years	People turning 65 about now
Cohort, born early 2020s	about 89 years	about 92 years	Babies born today
Cohort, born late 1870s	about 51 years	about 55 years	The earliest data Stats NZ holds

Period figures: Stats NZ period life tables 2022 to 2024, released 30 July 2025. Cohort figures: Stats NZ cohort life tables, March 2026 update, released 27 March 2026. Both retrieved 9 September 2026. Stats NZ describes the cohort tables as giving "the most authoritative measure of how long New Zealanders have lived, and are likely to live".

What it looks like if you have already reached 65

Life expectancy at birth is the wrong question for anyone old enough to be thinking about it, because it includes everyone who died young. Stats NZ publishes the better question too, in cohort form.

Born	Remaining years at 65, male	Remaining years at 65, female
Late 1870s	about 13	about 15
Early 1960s	about 21	about 24
Early 2020s	about 26	about 28

Stats NZ cohort life tables, March 2026 update, released 27 March 2026, retrieved 9 September 2026.

A man born in the early 1960s is turning 65 around now. His cohort can expect about another 21 years, which takes him to roughly 86. On the period measure at 65 the figure is 84.7. The at-birth headline of 80.4 sits well below both, because it counts deaths at every younger age that a 65-year-old has already got past.

Why the choice of table is an expensive one

A level term policy is bought to a fixed age, commonly 80. Someone reading that male life expectancy is about 80 can conclude the cover outlasts him. For a man who is already 65 it does not: it ends about five years before the period figure at his age and about six years before the cohort figure, at the age where the reason he bought it is closest at hand.

That is not an argument for any particular product, and it is not advice. It is an argument for using the right table. If you are deciding how long cover needs to run, the at-birth number is the wrong input. The figure at your current age, ideally from the cohort tables, is the better guide, and it is still an average: many people live well beyond it.

How insurers use age, and what is not published

No New Zealand insurer publishes the mortality basis it prices on, and Stats NZ does not publish life expectancy for people who hold life insurance. So there is no public answer to whether insured lives differ from the population. They probably do, because underwriting selects for health, but the size of that difference is not published by anyone in New Zealand and we are not going to estimate it. What insurers do publish is how a premium moves with age.

Product	How the premium moves with age	Source
Fidelity Life, Yearly Renewable Term	Rises each year with age, gender, smoker status and amount	Fidelity Life: Life cover
Fidelity Life, Level Term	Starts "a bit higher" and stays the same for the term	Same page
Asteron Life	Level premiums "don't increase with age"; stepped premiums start lower and rise each year with age	Asteron Life brochure
AIA	Rate for Age (stepped), or Level for 10 years, to 65 or to 80, after which the premium converts to Rate for Age	AIA Living umbrella policy wording v8, effective 12 May 2026
Momentum Life Quick Life	Stepped, re-set each anniversary for age, gender and smoking status until 75, then fixed	Quick Life policy wording
Momentum Life Funeral Insurance	Level, fixed each year until the 89th birthday, then premiums stop and cover continues for life	Funeral Insurance policy wording

Each source retrieved 20 October 2026. A stepped premium is cheap early and rises as the person ages. A level premium costs more at the start and stays the same for its term.

The Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman published a case where a "Level to age 80" policy converted to Rate for Age at 80 and the monthly premium went from $49 to $190; the complaint was not upheld (IFSO: Increasing premiums, retrieved 20 October 2026). The lesson is to find the age at which a level premium stops being level. Our page on stepped and level premiums explains the trade-off without quoting percentages we cannot source.

How these numbers sit against Momentum Life's two products

The age figures above matter for the two guaranteed acceptance products Momentum Life Limited sells. This is about how their wordings work, not advice for any one person.

Funeral Insurance accepts New Zealanders aged 40 to 75, with a benefit of $3,000 to $30,000 and 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 on death from any cause. Premiums stop at the 89th birthday and cover continues for life, so someone who dies at 90 or later, as around 1 in 5 deaths now do, has paid premiums for all 14 years from 75 to the 89th birthday on a policy bought at 75. This is not a savings plan: total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. See Momentum's Funeral Insurance.
Quick Life accepts ages 18 to 65, with cover of $50,000 to $300,000 and no health questions at application. For the first 2 years it does not pay for death from a pre-existing condition, or for suicide; accidental death is covered from the start. See Quick Life.

Neither of these two Momentum products takes new applicants over 75, and the median age at death sits in the late 70s and early 80s, so cover taken out at 65 or 75 has to last through those years. 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). A healthy person can usually get more cover for less through fully underwritten cover from a licensed adviser, and setting money aside is another way to prepare for funeral costs. The life insurance calculator helps size the cover itself. The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application.

What changed in the 2022 to 2024 release

The most recent complete period tables record the slowdown rather than the usual improvement.

Life expectancy at birth increased by 0.2 years for males and did not change at all for females compared with 2017 to 2019.
That is the smallest five-yearly increase since the 1960s.
The difference between male and female life expectancy narrowed.
Life expectancy increased for Māori while stalling for most other ethnic groups, and Stats NZ's headline is that it increased for Māori while stalling for most other ethnic groups (for example, up 0.9 years for Māori females and 0.2 for Māori males, against falls for Pacific and Asian people).
Increased death rates contributed to lower Pacific and Asian life expectancy.

All from Stats NZ period life tables 2022 to 2024, released 30 July 2025, retrieved 9 September 2026. The ethnicity and regional tables are only in the five-yearly complete releases, so the 2023 to 2025 abridged figures above are national and by sex only.

Where you live changes it

Period life expectancy at birth in 2022 to 2024 was highest in the Tasman region for both sexes, at 82.8 years for males and 85.7 for females, and highest in the least deprived areas of New Zealand (Stats NZ period life tables 2022 to 2024, released 30 July 2025, retrieved 9 September 2026).

The deprivation finding is the larger one. Stats NZ reports life expectancy at birth in 2022 to 2024 of 73.5 years for males and 77.9 for females in the most deprived areas, against 84.5 and 87.0 in the least deprived (NZDep2023). The regional range is narrower: Gisborne was lowest at 77.9 for males and 81.5 for females.

Questions

What is life expectancy in New Zealand?

On Stats NZ's latest period measure, 80.4 years at birth for males and 83.7 for females, using death rates in 2023 to 2025. At 65, a man can expect a further 19.7 years and a woman a further 21.8.

At what age do most people pass away in New Zealand?

The median age at death in 2025 was 79 for males and 83 for females. Nearly two in three deaths were of people aged 75 or older, and around one in five of people aged 90 or older.

Is New Zealand life expectancy still rising?

Yes, in the latest figures. The 2023 to 2025 period measure is 0.3 years higher for both sexes than 2022 to 2024, after almost no change between 2017 to 2019 and 2022 to 2024. The long-run cohort series still rises steeply, because it reflects decades of accumulated improvement.

Which number should I use when deciding how long cover should last?

The expectancy at your current age, ideally from the cohort tables, rather than the at-birth figure. It is an average, not a limit.

Do women still live longer than men?

Yes, by about 3.3 years at birth on the 2023 to 2025 measure (83.7 against 80.4), a little narrower than the 3.4 years in the 2022 to 2024 tables.

Do insurance companies use a life expectancy calculator?

Insurers price and underwrite individuals under their own rules, and none publishes its mortality basis. Stats NZ's public "How long will I live?" tool is built on the cohort tables described above. It is not an insurer's calculation.

Where do these figures come from?

Statistics New Zealand's abridged period life table 2023 to 2025 and births and deaths release (17 February 2026), period life tables 2022 to 2024 (30 July 2025) and cohort life tables March 2026 update (27 March 2026). Nothing on this page is modelled or estimated by QuoteHub.

How we gathered this

We read the Stats NZ releases named in the tables on the dates shown and quote only figures printed there or in the insurer documents linked. The downloadable CSV (nz-life-expectancy-2026-09.csv), linked from this page's dataset download, holds the earlier 2022 to 2024 and cohort table above. Restated annually, or on the next Stats NZ release, whichever comes first.

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). 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 funeral costs.

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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

QuoteHub built this page because the gap between the measures is one of the most expensive misunderstandings in life insurance planning. The headline at-birth figure includes everyone who died young, so it understates how long a person who has reached 65 can expect to live, and the cohort tables Stats NZ calls the most authoritative measure go higher again. A policy that ends at 80 ends years before the typical outcome for a man who is 65 today, which is why the choice of table matters more than the product.

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

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Life Expectancy NZ: Average Age of Death Stats. www.quotehub.co.nz/statistics/life-expectancy-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.