Lakes District Health Board
Population Overview
Population Composition - Age and Sex
Age, sex, hereditary factors and ethnicity are key determinants of health and are relatively unchangeable. It is projected that there are more females (50,256) than males (48,060) living in Lakes DHB in 2006. Females in New Zealand as a whole have outnumbered males since the late 1960s. The excess of females becomes very marked among those aged over 65 years reflecting the higher mortality rates amongst males and the longer life expectancy of females.
Population Composition - Ethnicity
The Lakes DHB population is becoming increasingly multicultural with increases in the number of residents from the Pacific Islands, Asian countries and many other parts of the world. The Lakes Pacific people’s population of approximately 3,651 comprises established Cook Island, Tokelauan, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and Niuean communities in Rotorua, and the Tokelauan, Fijian and Samoan communities in Taupo.
The proportion of Māori in the Lakes population is significantly higher than in the national population. In Lakes DHB overall the proportion of Māori is approximately 34% compared with 15% nationally. Māori under 25 years of age make up approximately half of the total Maori population of Lakes DHB. The age structure by sex of Lakes and New Zealand is projected to change dramatically by 2026.
Population ageing reflects the combined impact of sub-replacement fertility (when live birth rates are below the level that the population needs to replace itself without migration), longevity gains (longer life expectancy) and the ageing of the large “baby-boom” cohorts of the 1950s-1970s3. Since the over 65 age group has high health needs and consumes more health services than younger age groups, the increasing proportion of older people is likely to place a higher demand on health and disability services.
