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Kōrero: Death rates and life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth, Māori and non-Māori

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The separate epidemiological transitions of Māori and non-Māori are illustrated in this graph showing life expectancy at birth in 1876, 1945 and 1976. (Data was not available for Māori in 1876.) In 1945, Māori males and females had lower life expectancy than non-Māori males and females had had in 1876. By 1976, however, the gap was closing. Advances in health care for Māori helped explain the change.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: I. Pool, 'Mortality trends and differentials.’ In Population of New Zealand / Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, vol. 1. ESCAP country monograph series, no. 12, 2 vols. New York: United Nations, 1985, pp. 209–242.

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Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Ian Pool, Death rates and life expectancy – Māori epidemiological transition, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/graph/26605/life-expectancy-at-birth-maori-and-non-maori (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Ian Pool, i tāngia i te 19 April 2011.