Health status indicators

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Health status indicators > Disability

In 2001 there were an estimated 106,500 Māori adults and children with disability living in households as opposed to managed care facilities. Twenty-one percent of Māori had a disability, compared to 19 percent of non-Māori adults and children living in households.

Adjusting for the different age structures of the population, Māori had a higher rate of disability (24 percent) compared to non-Māori (17 percent). Māori were also more likely to have a functional disability requiring assistance⁴ than non-Māori living in households (age-standardised rate of 14 percent compared to 9 percent).

Fifteen percent of Māori children aged 0–14 years living in households had a disability, compared to 10 percent of non-Māori. The most common disability type experienced by Māori children was chronic conditions/health problems.

The prevalence of disability increases with age, with the highest rates among those aged 65 years and older. The age-standardised rate of disability in Māori aged 65 and older living in households was the same as that for non-Māori at 61 percent. Mobility and agility were the most common disability types experienced by Māori adults.

For further information on the experience of disability for Māori, please refer to the chapter ‘Māori and disability’ in Living with Disability in New Zealand. These data are based on the 2001 Household Disability Survey (Statistics New Zealand).

⁴Functional disability requiring assistance relates to limitations around activity that have lasted more than six months.

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