This new ASMS report, which uses the New Zealand Health Survey results for self-reported health since 2011 – shows an overall decline in the health of adult New Zealanders.
The report shows the social cost of this is between $2.6 and $8.6 billion, and the economic cost is between $2.5 and $3.5 billion.
Self-reported excellent health has declined by 43% between 2011/12 and 2023/24 (from 20.2% to 11.5%), whereas self-reported fair health has increased 42% over the same period (from 8.3% to 11.7%).
High or very high psychological distress has gone from around 5% of the overall adult population in 2011/12 to around 8% in 2023/24. This has been much more pronounced for younger age groups, with high or very high psychological distress at over 20% for those aged 15-34 years. This happened over the COVID-19 period but has not recovered.
Media coverage of the report and an op ed:
https://thekaka.substack.com/p/mini-hoon-andrea-black-on-our-sic
