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Major causes of death

The major causes of death for Mori and non-Māori, and gender are presented in this chart book. Causes of death have been ranked in two different ways: first by age-standardised mortality rates (Table 13) and then by years of life lost (YLL) (Table 14).

Growing old is a natural biological process, and death, being inevitable, reflects population health status only to a limited extent. Therefore, YLL has been used to provide a measure of the social burden of premature mortality across the life span, including deaths in old age.

For further information about YLL see Ngā Tapuae me ngā Raraunga: Methods and Data Sources

How to interpret results - tables

Table 13: Major causes of death, 2004–2006, ranked by age-standardised mortality rates

	Males	Females
Māori	Ischaemic heart disease	Ischaemic heart disease
	Lung cancer	Lung cancer
	Diabetes	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
	Suicide	Cerebrovascular disease
	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease = Other forms heart disease	Diabetes
non-Māori	Ischaemic heart disease	Ischaemic heart disease
	Suicide	Breast cancer
	Lung cancer	Cerebrovascular disease
	Cerebrovascular disease	Lung cancer
	Colorectal cancer	Colorectal cancer

Source: Ministry of Health

Notes:

1. Prioritised Māori ethnic group – see ‘Ngā Tapuae me ngā Raraunga: Methods and Data Sources’ for further information.
2. Age standardised to 2001 Census total Māori population.

Table 13 shows that ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death for both Māori and non-Māori. Lung cancer was the second leading cause of death for Māori and was also in the top five causes of death for non-Māori. Diabetes featured in the top five causes of death for both Māori males and Māori females but did not feature in the top five for non-Māori of either gender.

Suicide was the fourth leading cause of death for Māori males and the second leading cause of death for non-Māori males. Apart from suicide for males, the major causes of death were all chronic diseases, regardless of gender or ethnicity.

How to interpret results - tables

Table 14: Major causes of death, 2004–2006, ranked by years of life lost (YLL)

	Males	Females
Māori	Ischaemic heart disease	Ischaemic heart disease
	Suicide	Lung cancer
	Lung cancer	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
	Diabetes	Cerebrovascular disease
	Other forms heart disease	Diabetes
non-Māori	Ischaemic heart disease	Ischaemic heart disease
	Lung cancer	Cerebrovascular disease
	Cerebrovascular disease	Breast cancer
	Suicide	Colorectal cancer
	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	Lung cancer

Source: Ministry of Health

Note: Prioritised Māori ethnic group – see ‘Ngā Tapuae me ngā Raraunga: Methods and Data Sources for further information.

When considering cause of death by YLL, the major causes of premature death were still dominated by chronic diseases (eg, ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer were the leading causes for all groups).

Table 14 shows that suicide was a major cause of premature death for males in both populations – for Māori males it was the second leading cause of premature death, while it ranked fourth for non-Māori males. Breast cancer was the third leading cause of premature death for both Māori and non-Māori females.

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Page last updated: 21 July 2010

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