Mortality rate for intentional self-harm in New Zealand

Main cause, by sex, 1950–2021, age-standardised rate of death per 100,000 population

The following information applies to all values in the table. Cause of death: X60-X84, Ethnic group: Total, Age group: total, Unit: Rate
Year	Sex	Age-standardised rate of death per 100,000 population
1950	Female	4.5
1950	Male	13.9
1951	Female	4.8
1951	Male	14.7
1952	Female	5.1
1952	Male	15.4
1953	Female	5.5
1953	Male	14.1
1954	Female	4.1
1954	Male	13.3
1955	Female	4.9
1955	Male	13.4
1956	Female	6.3
1956	Male	12.8
1957	Female	5.7
1957	Male	14.5
1958	Female	5.1
1958	Male	15.5
1959	Female	4.2
1959	Male	14.5
1960	Female	5.6
1960	Male	15
1961	Female	4.2
1961	Male	14
1962	Female	5.7
1962	Male	12.6
1963	Female	7.1
1963	Male	13.6
1964	Female	6.5
1964	Male	10.7
1965	Female	6.5
1965	Male	13.4
1966	Female	7.1
1966	Male	12.8
1967	Female	6.3
1967	Male	15.6
1968	Female	6.6
1968	Male	14.3
1969	Female	7.4
1969	Male	14.4
1970	Female	6.7
1970	Male	13.8
1971	Female	6.5
1971	Male	11.5
1972	Female	6.5
1972	Male	13.1
1973	Female	5.4
1973	Male	13.4
1974	Female	6
1974	Male	13.4
1975	Female	6.6
1975	Male	13.8
1976	Female	6.2
1976	Male	13.5
1977	Female	7.3
1977	Male	17.6
1978	Female	7.5
1978	Male	13.9
1979	Female	5.6
1979	Male	14.4
1980	Female	7
1980	Male	14.8
1981	Female	4.8
1981	Male	15.8
1982	Female	6.6
1982	Male	16.3
1983	Female	6.2
1983	Male	15.5
1984	Female	5.4
1984	Male	18.3
1985	Female	4.9
1985	Male	15.5
1986	Female	6.6
1986	Male	18.3
1987	Female	5.8
1987	Male	21.7
1988	Female	5.7
1988	Male	22.4
1989	Female	5.3
1989	Male	21.8
1990	Female	5.1
1990	Male	21.1
1991	Female	5.4
1991	Male	22.3
1992	Female	5.4
1992	Male	23.1
1993	Female	5.2
1993	Male	19.9
1994	Female	5.5
1994	Male	23.1
1995	Female	6.3
1995	Male	23.9
1996	Female	5.9
1996	Male	22.9
1997	Female	6.3
1997	Male	23.6
1998	Female	6.8
1998	Male	23.6
1999	Female	6.7
1999	Male	20.3
2000	Female	4.2
2000	Male	19.9
2001	Female	5.8
2001	Male	20.4
2002	Female	5.6
2002	Male	18.2
2003	Female	6.6
2003	Male	18.6
2004	Female	5.3
2004	Male	18.7
2005	Female	6
2005	Male	18.7
2006	Female	6.2
2006	Male	18.5
2007	Female	5.2
2007	Male	18
2008	Female	6.3
2008	Male	17.7
2009	Female	5.1
2009	Male	18.3
2010	Female	6.5
2010	Male	17.7
2011	Female	5.2
2011	Male	17.4
2012	Female	6.4
2012	Male	18.6
2013	Female	6.5
2013	Male	15.9
2014	Female	5.5
2014	Male	16.4
2015	Female	6.1
2015	Male	16.2
2016	Female	6
2016	Male	17
2017	Female	6.3
2017	Male	18.2
2018	Female	6.8
2018	Male	17.3
2019	Female	7.2
2019	Male	19
2020	Female	6.5
2020	Male	16.8
2021	Female	6.1
2021	Male	17.9

Definitions

Year: Death registration year
Sex: Sex of person at death
Age-standardised rates: The rates in this file have been age standardised to take into account the differences in the age distribution of the population over time. MoH used direct age-standardisation and the WHO World Population as the standard population
Ethnic group: Unknowns are included in Non-Māori.

All cancer: All types of malignant neoplasms (ICD classification C00-C96 & D45-D47)
Ischaemic heart diseases: Also known as Coronary artery disease (CAD). Includes myocardial infarction, related complications, and other acute and chronic ischaemic heart diseases (ICD classification I20-I25)
Cerebrovascular diseases: Includes strokes and other cerebrovascular diseases (ICD classification I60-I69)
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: Includes bronchitis, asthma, emphysema etc (ICD classification J40-J47)
Other forms of heart disease: ICD classification I30-I52
Influenza and pneumonia: ICD classification J09-J18
Diabetes mellitus: includes Diabetes Type 1 and 2 (ICD classification E10-E14)
Motor vehicle crashes: Deaths that occurred in collision and non-collision events. The data provider used the term 'accidents', which we have rectified to 'crashes' to avoid ambiguity on the presumed responsibility of the events (ICD classification V , not all sub-categories are included)

For more information

https://www.health.govt.nz/nz-health-statistics/national-collections-and-surveys/collections/mortality-collection

Limitations of the data

Data for 2022 is preliminary. Data for 2021 is provisional.
2022 data is preliminary due to the number of deaths with no known cause awaiting coroner's findings. 2022 data for assault, intentional self-harm and motor vehicle accidents are not presented, as these causes are typically more influenced by coronial cases.

Inclusions

This dataset includes deaths where COVID was coded as the underlying cause of death. These deaths are coded to the following ICD classification; Chapter 22 Codes for special purposes > U00–U49 Provisional assignment of new diseases of uncertain aetiology or emergency use > U07 Emergency use of U07. The 3-character code U07 can also include vaping-related deaths, though none were reported in 2020 or 2021.

Changes to data collection/processing

Ethnic breakdowns of mortality data are only shown from 1996 onwards because there was a significant change in the way ethnicity was defined, and in the way ethnicity data was collected in 1995.
Please note that Stats NZ recently revised their population estimates for the period back until 2006, based on information from the 2018 Census. This will affect rates for a number of causes of death, particularly for Māori.

Data provided by

Ministry of Health

Dataset name

Mortality Collection: Historical mortality 2022

Webpage:

https://tewhatuora.shinyapps.io/mortality-web-tool/

How to find the data

At URL provided, in 'Historical mortality (1948–2022)' tab, under 'Mortality by selected causes of death, sex, ethnicity and age group' headline select in 'Options' table: 'All deaths', 'All sex', 'All ethnic groups' and 'All ages'. Scroll down and under the table click on 'Excel' tab to download the file.

Import & extraction details

File as imported: Mortality Collection: Historical mortality 2022

From the dataset Mortality Collection: Historical mortality 2022, this data was extracted:

Sheet: Sheet1
Range: F3:G41652
Provided: 83,300 data points

This data forms the table Death - Deaths by main cause, sex, age group, and ethnic group 1948–2022.

Dataset originally released on:

July 31, 2025

About this dataset

The Mortality Collection (MORT) classifies the underlying cause of death for all deaths registered in New Zealand, and all registerable stillbirths (fetal deaths).

Purpose of collection

The Mortality Collection was established to provide data on causes of death for New Zealand’s vital statistics, for public health research, policy formulation, monitoring the effectiveness of health programmes, and cancer survival studies. A dataset of each year’s mortality data is sent to the World Health Organization to be used in international comparisons of mortality statistics.

Method of collection/Data provider

Data from 1948–1995 presented in these tables was sourced from publications in the Ministry of Health Mortality data and stats series.
Data from 1996–2022 was extracted from the New Zealand Mortality Collection electronic records.

Mortality rate for intentional self-harm in New Zealand

Main cause, by sex, 1950–2021, age-standardised rate of death per 100,000 population

About this data

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