To: Stats NZ – Official Information Act Officer
Via: FYI.org.nz
Date: [Insert]

Tēnā koutou,

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request the following information relating to excess mortality and cause-of-death trends in New Zealand, covering the period 1 January 2015 to the most recent data available in 2025.

This request asks for numerical, aggregated data only.
No identifiable personal information is sought.

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1. Annual total deaths & excess mortality estimates

For each calendar year: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and the most recent published period for 2025:

1.1 Total registered deaths in New Zealand
1.2 Age-standardised mortality rate
1.3 Annual excess mortality (number and percentage) using Stats NZ’s standard baseline methodology
1.4 Any internal or published technical notes describing how excess mortality was calculated for each year

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2. Weekly mortality (2015–2025)

Please provide the following:

2.1 Weekly total death counts (all-cause) for every week from 1 Jan 2015 to the latest available week in 2025
2.2 Weekly baseline model used by Stats NZ for “expected deaths”
2.3 Weekly excess deaths (or sufficient data to calculate this)

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3. Cause-of-death by ICD-10 category (2015–2024)

For each year:

3.1 The total number of deaths for each ICD-10 “Chapter” category, including but not limited to:
• Neoplasms (C00–D48)
• Circulatory system diseases (I00–I99)
• Respiratory diseases (J00–J99)
• Endocrine/metabolic (E00–E90)
• Nervous system (G00–G99)
• External causes (V01–Y98)
• Mental and behavioural disorders
• Infectious and parasitic diseases
• Ill-defined causes / symptoms / unknown causes

3.2 Mortality rates (crude or age-standardised)

3.3 A copy of any annual or quarterly “cause of death” statistical tables held by Stats NZ that may not be publicly displayed on the website.

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4. Specific categories of public concern

For each year 2015–2025, please provide:

4.1 Total deaths classified as:
• Sudden cardiac death
• Acute myocardial infarction
• Stroke / cerebrovascular accident
• Pulmonary embolism
• Myocarditis
• Pericarditis
• Aneurysm or aortic dissection
• “Ill-defined or unknown causes” category (R00–R99)

4.2 Total deaths coded under the following cancer subcategories:
• Acute leukaemias
• Lymphomas
• Metastatic cancers with <3 months between diagnosis and death (if recorded)
• Pancreatic cancer
• Brain/CNS cancers

If Stats NZ does not hold the “diagnosis-to-death interval”, please confirm.

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5. Age-banded mortality

For each year 2015–2025, please provide age-banded mortality counts for the following groups:
• 0–14
• 15–44
• 45–64
• 65–74
• 75–84
• 85+

If different bands are used internally, please provide the closest equivalent.

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6. Excess mortality by age, ethnicity, and region

If available, for each year 2015–2025:

6.1 Excess deaths by age band
6.2 Excess deaths by ethnicity (Māori, Pacific Peoples, European/Other, Asian)
6.3 Excess deaths by region/DHB area
6.4 Any internal analysis comparing excess deaths before 2020 vs after 2020 (if produced)

If no analysis exists, please confirm.

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7. Internal technical papers or briefings (2020–2025)

Please provide:

7.1 A list of all internal reports, memos, technical papers, or briefing documents produced between 1 Jan 2020 and today that relate to:
• Excess mortality
• Cause-of-death trends
• Delay in death registration processing
• Changes in disease-specific mortality
• Data quality issues in mortality series

7.2 For the first five documents in each category, please provide the full text.

If full release would trigger s18(f), the list alone is sufficient for this part.

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8. Format

I request all numerical datasets in CSV or Excel where possible.
Documents may be provided in PDF.

No personally identifiable information is requested.

Kind regards,
Spencer Jones
(via FYI.org.nz)