

Art. LXVII.—A Comparison of the General Mortality in New Zealand, in Victoria and New South Wales, and in England.
[Read before the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, 11th October, 1897]
In a former paper on colonial mortality* the results relating to New Zealand were submitted. It is proposed to compare the general rates of mortality of this colony with those prevailing in New South Wales and Victoria and in England. It has often been stated that New Zealand is the healthiest place in the world: a cursory examination of the diagrams and tables herewith will fully bear out this statement. In every case New Zealand is in the lead. In Tables I. and II. are given the numbers surviving to each year of age out of ten thousand born alive. In New Zealand 9,033 males survive the first year, in New South Wales and Victoria only 8,672 survive, and in England only 8,414 survive. For females the results are better in each case, still, however, leaving New Zealand in the front; they are—in New Zealand, 9,183; in New South Wales and Victoria, 8,832; and in England, 8,713 survive the first year out of ten thousand born alive. Starting so well, it is but natural that this colony should maintain its position throughout the other years of life, which it does, for at age 75 the survivors are 2,663, 1,828, and 1,450 males respectively, and 3,349, 2,437, and 1,906 females respectively. Tables I. and II. are shown graphically in Plate LX.
It may be argued that because this colony starts so well with infant mortality the advantage may mask a possible
[Footnote] * An Investigation into the Rates of Mortality in New Zealand during the Period 1881–91 “(Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxix., p. 52).

deterioration at some subsequent year of life. For instance, taking the figures for males at 30 and 31 years—
Age. | New Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. |
30 | 7,897 | 7,221 | 6,300 |
31 | 7,851 | 7,165 | 6,241 |
—it does not follow immediately that the year of age 30–31 is most favourable in the first country. To ascertain which provides the best chance of life it is necessary to know the number surviving the year out of the same number at risk for the year in each case. Thus, if instead of 7,897, 7,221, and 6,300 at age 30 there are ten thousand at this age in each country, then 9,941, 9,922, and 9,906 would survive the year. Hence at this particular age New Zealand again ranks first. Tables III. and IV., shown graphically in Plate LXI, have been prepared to bring out the comparison at each age. For the ages 16 and 17 (Males—Table III.) New South Wales and Victoria are as healthy as New Zealand, but at no other age are those colonies so healthy; while at ages 12, 13, 14, and 16 (Females—Table IV.) New South “Wales and Victoria reach. New Zealand's high level; and at age 15 females in New South Wales and Victoria have a better chance of living a year than those in New Zealand. At only one age is the mortality in England so light as in any of the colonies under discussion—at age 67 (Males—Table III.), where the English mortality is lighter than New South. Wales and Victoria, but not so light as New Zealand.
The figures for New Zealand are taken from the paper previously referred to. Those for New South Wales and Victoria were compiled by W. R. Dovey, F.F.A., whose paper, “The Rates of Mortality in New South Wales and Victoria,” was published in the Sydney Record, June, 1893, and relates to the period 1881—91. Another investigation into the mortality of New South Wales and Victoria, by A. Duckworth, for the same period—1881–90—it was not possible to use, as the sexes are not separated. The English figures for lx are from the last English life-table, No. IV. (J.I.A., vol. 29, p. 30), and are for the period 1871–80. The values of px were specially calculated, as they are not given in the English, table.

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]
X | New Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. | X | New Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. |
0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 40 | 7,376 | 6,585 | 5,631 |
1 | 9,033 | 8,672 | 8,414 | 41 | 7,315 | 6,510 | 5,553 |
2 | 8,869 | 8,368 | 7,902 | 42 | 7,252 | 6,432 | 5,473 |
3 | 8,801 | 8,257 | 7,637 | 43 | 7,185 | 6,352 | 5,392 |
4 | 8,757 | 8,180 | 7,466 | 44 | 7,116 | 6,270 | 5,309 |
5 | 8,720 | 8,120 | 7,341 | 45 | 7,044 | 6,185 | 5,224 |
6 | 8,686 | 8,077 | 7,268 | 46 | 6,967 | 6,096 | 5,137 |
7 | 8,655 | 8,044 | 7,211 | 47 | 6,886 | 6,004 | 5,048 |
8 | 8,627 | 8,015 | 7,163 | 48 | 6,802 | 5,908 | 4,958 |
9 | 8,604 | 7,989 | 7,123 | 49 | 6,715 | 5,808 | 4,865 |
10 | 8,584 | 7,966 | 7,090 | 50 | 6,625 | 5,706 | 4,770 |
11 | 8,566 | 7,945 | 7,061 | 51 | 6,533 | 5,599 | 4,673 |
12 | 8,548 | 7,925 | 7,036 | 52 | 6,439 | 5,488 | 5,570 |
13 | 8,530 | 7,906 | 7,012 | 53 | 6,342 | 5,372 | 4,465 |
14 | 8,511 | 7,885 | 6,988 | 54 | 6,239 | 5,253 | 4,357 |
15 | 8,490 | 7,865 | 6,964 | 55 | 6,131 | 5,129 | 4,247 |
16 | 8,465 | 7,841 | 6,937 | 56 | 6,015 | 5,001 | 4,134 |
17 | 8,437 | 7,815 | 6,907 | 57 | 5,893 | 4,869 | 4,017 |
18 | 8,405 | 7,785 | 6,875 | 58 | 5,763 | 4,732 | 3,898 |
19 | 8,370 | 7,751 | 6,839 | 59 | 5,625 | 4, 591 | 3,776 |
20 | 8,331 | 7,713 | 6,800 | 60 | 5,481 | 4,447 | 3,650 |
21 | 8,290 | 7,673 | 6,758 | 61 | 5,836 | 4,299 | 3,521 |
22 | 8,247 | 7,629 | 6,713 | 62 | 5,187 | 4,147 | 3,388 |
23 | 8,202 | 7,584 | 6,668 | 63 | 5,031 | 3,993 | 8,253 |
24 | 8,157 | 7,536 | 6,620 | 64 | 4,869 | 3,833 | 3,114 |
25 | 8,112 | 7,488 | 6,571 | 65 | 4,697 | 3,671 | 2,972 |
26 | 8,069 | 7,437 | 6,520 | 66 | 4,504 | 3,498 | 2,826 |
27 | 8,026 | 7,385 | 6,468 | 67 | 4,299 | 3,318 | 2,678 |
28 | 7,984 | 7,332 | 6,414 | 68 | 4,085 | 3,131 | 2,528 |
29 | 7,941 | 7,277 | 6,358 | 69 | 3,864 | 2,942 | 2,375 |
30 | 7,897 | 7,221 | 6,300 | 70 | 3,642 | 2,759 | 2,221 |
31 | 7,851 | 7,165 | 6,241 | 71 | 8,430 | 2,574 | 2,065 |
32 | 7,803 | 7,107 | 6,181 | 72 | 8,229 | 2,386 | 1,910 |
33 | 7,754 | 7,048 | 6,118 | 73 | 3,035 | 2,199 | 1,754 |
34 | 7,704 | 6,987 | 6,054 | 74 | 2,848 | 2,012 | 1,601 |
75 | 2,663 | 1,828 | 1,450 | ||||
35 | 7,652 | 6,926 | 5,989 | ||||
36 | 7,601 | 6,862 | 5,921 | ||||
37 | 7,547 | 6,797 | 5,852 | ||||
38 | 7,492 | 6,729 | 5,780 | ||||
39 | 7,435 | 6,658 | 5,707 |

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]
X | Now Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. | x | New Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. |
0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 40 | 7,498 | 6,775 | 5,961 |
1 | 9,183 | 8,832 | 8,713 | 41 | 7,436 | 6,702 | 5,892 |
2 | 9,028 | 8,529 | 8,205 | 42 | 7,375 | 6,628 | 5,821 |
3 | 8,964 | 8,425 | 7,934 | 43 | 7,314 | 6,553 | 5,749 |
4 | 8,922 | 8,352 | 7,754 | 44 | 7,254 | 6,477 | 5,676 |
5 | 8,889 | 8,294 | 7,626 | 45 | 7,193 | 6,399 | 5,602 |
6 | 8,860 | 8,253 | 7,557 | 46 | 7,132 | 6,320 | 5,526 |
7 | 8,833 | 8,221 | 7,503 | 47 | 7,069 | 6,240 | 5,449 |
8 | 8,811 | 8,192 | 7,456 | 48 | 7,004 | 6,158 | 5,370 |
9 | 8,791 | 8,169 | 7,417 | 49 | 6,938 | 6,074 | 5.290 |
10 | 8,773 | 8,147 | 7,384 | 50 | 6,869 | 5,988 | 5,209 |
11 | 8,757 | 8,128 | 7,354 | 51 | 6,794 | 5,900 | 5,126 |
12 | 8,739 | 8,110 | 7,327 | 52 | 6,716 | 5,810 | 5,042 |
13 | 8,721 | 8,093 | 7,301 | 53 | 6,634 | 5,719 | 4,956 |
14 | 8,701 | 8,074 | 7,276 | 54 | 6,548 | 5,626 | 4,870 |
15 | 8,678 | 8,054 | 7,250 | 55 | 6,458 | 5,530 | 4,774 |
16 | 8,652 | 8,031 | 7,221 | 56 | 6,365 | 5,430 | 4,674 |
17 | 8,624 | 8,004 | 7,190 | 67 | 6,267 | 5,326 | 4,570 |
18 | 8,592 | 7,974 | 7,156 | 58 | 6,164 | 5,217 | 4,461 |
19 | 8,557 | 7,940 | 7,119 | 59 | 6,055 | 5,102 | 4,347 |
20 | 8,521 | 7,902 | 7,079 | 60 | 5,941 | 4,983 | 4,228 |
21 | 8,483 | 7,865 | 7,036 | 61 | 5,824 | 4,861 | 4,105 |
22 | 8,443 | 7,824 | 6,991 | 62 | 5,702 | 4,735 | 3,976 |
23 | 8,402 | 7,780 | 6,945 | 63 | 5,574 | 4,605 | 3,843 |
24 | 8,360 | 7,735 | 6,898 | 64 | 5,439 | 4,472 | 3,705 |
25 | 8,316 | 7,686 | 6,849 | 65 | 5,296 | 4,333 | 3,562 |
26 | 8,271 | 7,634 | 6,798 | 66 | 5,134 | 4,175 | 3,413 |
27 | 8,225 | 7,582 | 6,747 | 67 | 4,962 | 3,996 | 3,260 |
28 | 8,177 | 7,528 | 6,694 | 68 | 4,780 | 3,809 | 3,102 |
29 | 8,129 | 7,472 | 6,640 | 69 | 4,592 | 3,619 | 2,939 |
30 | 8,079 | 7,416 | 6,584 | 70 | 4,401 | 3,429 | 2,772 |
31 | 8,029 | 7,358 | 6,527 | 71 | 4,210 | 3,237 | 2,602 |
32 | 7,977 | 7,299 | 6,470 | 72 | 4,015 | 3,041 | 2,429 |
33 | 7,923 | 7,239 | 6,410 | 73 | 3,811 | 2,842 | 2,255 |
34 | 7,868 | 7,178 | 6,350 | 74 | 3,592 | 2,640 | 2,080 |
75 | 3,349 | 2,437 | 1,906 | ||||
35 | 7,810 | 7,116 | 6,288 | ||||
36 | 7,750 | 7,052 | 6,226 | ||||
37 | 7,688 | 6,985 | 6,161 | ||||
38 | 7,625 | 6,917 | 6,096 | ||||
39 | 7,562 | 6,847 | 6,029 |

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]
x | New Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. | X | New Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. |
0 | 09033 | 0.8672 | 0.8414 | 40 | 0.9917 | 0.9886 | 0.9861 |
1 | 0.9818 | 0.9649 | 0.9391 | 41 | 0.9913 | 0.9881 | 0.9857 |
2 | 0.9924 | 0.9868 | 0.9665 | 42 | 0.9909 | 0.9876 | 0.9851 |
3 | 0.9950 | 0.9907 | .0.9775 | 43 | 0.9904 | 0.9871 | 0.9846 |
4 | 0.9958 | 0.9927 | 0.9832 | 44 | 0.9899 | 0.9864 | 0.9840 |
5 | 0.9961 | 0.9948 | 0.9901 | 45 | 0.9891 | 0.9856 | 0.9834 |
6 | 0.9964 | 0.9959 | 0.9921 | 46 | 0.9885 | 0.9849 | 0.9827 |
7 | 0.9968 | 0.9964 | 0.9933 | 47 | 0.9878 | 0.9840 | 0.9820 |
8 | 0.9973 | 0.9968 | 0.9945 | 48 | 0.9872 | 0.9831 | 0.9813 |
9 | 0.9977 | 0.9972 | 0.9953 | 49 | 0.9866 | 0.9824 | 0.9805 |
10 | 0.9979 | 0.9974 | 0.9960 | 50 | 0.9862 | 0.9812 | 0.9796 |
11 | 0.9979 | 0.9975 | 0.9964 | 51 | 0.9856 | 0.9802 | 0.9781 |
12 | 0.9979 | 0.9975 | 0–9966 | 52 | 0.9848 | 0.9789 | 0.9770 |
13 | 0.9977 | 0.9975 | 0.9966 | 53 | 0.9839 | 0.9778 | 0.9759 |
14 | 0.9975 | 0.9974 | 0.9965 | 54 | 0.9826 | 0.9765 | 0.9746 |
15 | 0.9971 | 0.9970 | 0.9961 | 55 | 0.9812 | 09751 | 0.9783 |
16 | 0.9967 | 0.9967 | 0.9958 | 56 | 0.9797 | 0.9736 | 0.9719 |
17 | 0.9962 | 0.9962 | 0.9953 | 57 | 0.9780 | 0.9718 | 0.9704 |
18 | 0.9958 | 0.9957 | 0.9948 | 58 | 0.9761 | 0.9704 | 0.9686 |
19 | 0.9954 | 0.9952 | 0.9943 | 59 | 0.9748 | 0.9685 | 0.9667 |
20 | 0.9950 | 0.9947 | 0.9937 | 60 | 0.9786 | 0.9668 | 0.9646 |
21 | 0.9948 | 0.9943 | 0.9934 | 51 | 0.9720 | 0.9647 | 0.9624 |
22 | 0.9946 | 0.9940 | 0.9932 | 62 | 0.9700 | 0.9627 | 0.9600 |
23 | 0.9945 | 0.9938 | 0.9929 | 63 | 0.9677 | 0.9600 | 0.9573 |
24 | 0.9944 | 0.9935 | 0.9926 | 64 | 0.9649 | 0.9578 | 0.9544 |
25 | 0.9947 | 0.9932 | 0.9923 | 65 | 0.9589 | 0.9528 | 0.9511 |
26 | 0.9947 | 0.9930 | 0.9920 | 66 | 0.9545 | 0.9484 | 0.9476 |
27 | 0.9947 | 0.9928 | 0.9917 | 67 | 0.9501 | 09436 | 0.9437 |
28 | 0.9946 | 0.9925 | 0.9913 | 68 | 0.9459 | 0.9399 | 0.9396 |
29 | 0.9945 | 0.9924 | 0.9910 | 69 | 0.9426 | 0.9378 | 0.9350 |
30 | 0.9941 | 0.9922 | 0.9906 | 70 | 0.9418 | 0.9327 | 0.9301 |
31 | 0.9939 | 0.9919 | 0.9903 | 71 | 0.9414 | 0.9273 | 0.9246 |
32 | 0.9937 | 0.9917 | 0.9899 | 72 | 0.9401 | 0.9215 | 0.9187 |
33 | 0.9935 | 0.9914 | 0.9895 | 73 | 0.9382 | 0.9152 | 0.9124 |
34 | 0.9933 | 0.9912 | 0.9892 | 74 | 0.9353 | 0.9084 | 0.9056 |
35 | 0.9932 | 0.9908 | 0.9887 | ||||
36 | 0.9929 | 0.9905 | 0.9883 | ||||
37 | 0.9927 | 0.9900 | 0.9878 | ||||
38 | 0.9925 | 0.9895 | 0.9873 | ||||
39 | 0.9920 | 0.9891 | 0.9867 |

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]
x | New Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. | New Zealand. | New South Wales and Victoria. | England. | |
0 | 0.9183 | 0.8832 | 0.8713 | 40 | 0.9917 | 0.9893 | 0.9884 |
1 | 0.9831 | 0.9658 | 0.9417 | 41 | 0.9918 | 0.9889 | 0.9880 |
2 | 0.9929 | 0.9877 | 0.9669 | 42 | 0.9918 | 0.9886 | 0.9877 |
3 | 0.9953 | 0.9913 | 0.9774 | 43 | 0.9917 | 0.9884 | 0.9873 |
4 | 0.9964 | 0.9930 | 0.9835 | 44 | 0.9916 | 0.9880 | 0.9869 |
5 | 0.9967 | 0.9951 | 0.9910 | 45 | 0.9915 | 0.9877 | 0.9865 |
6 | 0.9970 | 0.9961 | 0.9928 | 46 | 0.9912 | 0.9873 | 0.9861 |
7 | 0.9974 | 0.9966 | 0.9938 | 47 | 0.9909 | 0.9869 | 0.9856 |
8 | 0.9978 | 09971 | 0.9948 | 48 | 0.9905 | 0.9863 | 0.9851 |
9 | 0.9980 | 0.9974 | 0.9955 | 49 | 0.9900 | 0.9858 | 0.9846 |
10 | 0.9981 | 0.9977 | 0.9960 | 50 | 0.9892 | 0.9853 | 0.9841 |
11 | 0.9980 | 0.9978 | 0.9963 | 51 | 0.9885 | 0.9848 | 0.9836 |
12 | 0.9979 | 0.9979 | 0.9965 | 52 | 0.9878 | 0.9842 | 0.9831 |
13 | 0.9977 | 0.9977 | 0.9965 | 53 | 0.9870 | 0.9838 | 0.9825 |
14 | 0.9974 | 0.9974 | 0.9964 | 54 | 0.9863 | 0.9830 | 0.9804 |
15 | 0.9970 | 0.9971 | 09961 | 55 | 0.9856 | 0.9820 | 0.9791 |
16 | 0.9967 | 0.9967 | 0.9957 | 56 | 0.9846 | 0.9809 | 0.9776 |
17 | 0.9963 | 0.9962 | 0.9953 | 57 | 0.9835 | 0.9795 | 0.9761 |
18 | 0.9960 | 0.9958 | 0.9949 | 58 | 0.9824 | 0.9780 | 0.9745 |
19 | 0.9957 | 09953 | 0.9944 | 59 | 0.9811 | 0.9767 | 0.9727 |
20 | 0.9956 | 0.9952 | 0.9939 | 60 | 0.9803 | 0.9754 | 0.9708 |
21 | 0.9953 | 0.9948 | 0.9936 | 61 | 0.9790 | 0.9741 | 0.9687 |
22 | 0.9951 | 0.9945 | 0.9934 | 62 | 0.9776 | 0.9726 | 0.9665 |
23 | 0.9950 | 0.9941 | 0.9932 | 63 | 0.9758 | 0.9710 | 0.9641 |
24 | 0.9948 | 0.9937 | 09929 | 64 | 0.9738 | 0.9690 | 0.9613 |
25 | 0.9946 | 0.9933 | 0.9926 | 65 | 0.9694 | 0.9637 | 0.9583 |
26 | 0.9944 | 0.9931 | 0.9924 | 66 | 0.9664 | 0.9570 | 0.9551 |
27 | 0.9942 | 0.9929 | 0.9922 | 67 | 0.9633 | 0.9531 | 0.9515 |
28 | 0.9941 | 0.9926 | 0.9919 | 68 | 0.9607 | 0.9503 | 0.9476 |
29 | 0.9939 | 0.9925 | 0.9917 | 69 | 0.9585 | 0.9474 | 0.9433 |
30 | 0.9937 | 0.9922 | 0.9914 | 70 | 0.9566 | 0.9440 | 0.9386 |
31 | 0.9935 | 0.9920 | 0.9911 | 71 | 0.9537 | 0.9394 | 0.9336 |
32 | 0.9933 | 0.9918 | 0.9909 | 72 | 0.9492 | 0.9344 | 0.9283 |
33 | 0.9930 | 0.9915 | 0.9906 | 73 | 0.9424 | 0.9291 | 0.9224 |
34 | 0.9927 | 0.9913 | 0.9903 | 74 | 0.9323 | 0.9233 | 0.9162 |
35 | 0.9923 | 0.9910 | 0.9900 | ||||
36 | 0.9920 | 0.9905 | 0.9897 | ||||
37 | 0.9918 | 0.9903 | 0.9894 | ||||
38 | 00917 | 0.9899 | 0.9890 | ||||
39 | 0.9916 | 0.9896 | 0.9887 |