New Zealanders living longer than developed nation average

New Zealanders are living longer on average than they were a decade ago, and life expectancy is moving up the rankings of developed nations, the government statistics agency said Friday.

Life expectancy at birth had increased a year for women to 83.2 years and 1.5 years for men 79.5 years, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Women were expected to live four years longer than males a decade ago, but the gap was now 3.7 years.

Life expectancy at birth for all available ethnic groups had increased over the last decade, population statistics manager Vina Cullum said in a statement.

In particular, the difference between the indigenous Maori and non-Maori life expectancy had decreased from 8.2 years to 7.1 years.

Life expectancy at birth was 77.1 years for Maori women and 73 years for Maori men, while non-Maori women were expected to live to 83.9 years and non-Maori men to 80.3 years.

Pacific island women in New Zealand could expect to live to an average 78.7 years and Pacific island men to 74.5 years, but no previous data on Pacific islanders was available.

The average life expectancy in the Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) states was of 82.8 years for women and 77.5 years for men in 2012.

Out of 34 OECD countries over 2008 to 2012, New Zealand's life expectancy at birth ranked about 22nd highest for females, eighth for males and 13th overall.

In the early 1960s, New Zealand's ranking was about 10th highest for females and ninth for males.

Through the next two decades, longevity increased faster in many other OECD countries than in New Zealand, said a Statistics New Zealand commentary.

"Since the mid-1980s, faster-than-average gains in life expectancy in New Zealand, particularly for males, have improved New Zealand's relative position," it said.