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Statistics about ageing

Demystifying who lives in care

According to statistics from interRAI New Zealand, 31, 600 kiwis currently live in aged residential care (2017/2018).  That means that less than 5% of people over the age of 65 call a residential care facility home (according to data from Stats NZ 2019). People who move into residential care don’t do so because they hit a certain age; it’s because they require a higher level of care and support. In fact, the average of a person living in residential care is aged 85.

Basically, age on its own does not determine whether you need to move to a care home or not.

If you do need extra support as you get older, however, a care home is the perfect place to be. Residents in care homes across the country receive a great level of care, specific to their needs. Importantly, moving to a care home does not mean you will be lonely or isolated either. Based on interRAI statistics, 69% of residents spent most or some of their time involved in activities and 91% have strong and supportive family relationships.   

Population stats

In New Zealand, the number of older adults is steadily increasing (while the birth rate has been decreasing for the past few decades). According to 2019 data from Stats NZ, there are currently 759,800 people 65+ living in New Zealand, while modeling suggests that has already grown by an extra 50,000 in the past two years.

In fact, it is predicted that sometime in the next decade there will be more people aged 65+ than children aged 0-14. By 2034, people aged 65 and older will account for more than a fifth of the population.

We are also living longer than any previous time in history too – and as health outcomes in general continue to improve, so does our life expectancy. For example, the number of people aged 85+ is predicted to double by 2034 – from 86,800 in 2018 to 178,800 (Better Later Life He Oranga Kaumātua 2019 to 2034).

This brings with it some good things:

  • Nearly one in four Kiwis over 65 are in paid employment
  • By 2036, it is predicted that those over the age of 65 will contribute $50 billion of consumer spending to the economy, $25 billion worth of unpaid or voluntary work, and $13 billion in taxes.
  • As our population ages, it is also getting increasingly diverse. By 2034: the number of Māori will more than double (to 109,400) as will Pacific People (46,700). The predicted growth is even bigger for Asian communities, tripling to 171,900 while combined Middle Eastern /Latin American/Africa will quadruple to 18,000.

As well as more challenging things:

  • Older people are currently more likely than any other age group to own their own home but this is dropping for those aged 50–64. For older people who do own their home, the numbers with mortgages are increasing – from 6.8% in 2004 to 13.9% in 2018.
  • As a result of families increasingly become displaced, coupled with people having fewer children, it is estimated that by 2034, people 65+ will make up 55% of all people living alone.
  • Ageism continues to be a problem, with 20% of people aged 50 or older suggesting that they have felt invisible because of their age.

interRAI stats

interRAI is an internationally recognised computer-based assessment programme and is used to assess the level of care and support an older person needs. Assessments are done in person in your home, aged residential care facility, hospital or elsewhere in the community and occasionally over the phone. As well as benefiting the individual being assessed, information from the interRAI assessments is used to improve services for all older people.

In New Zealand, there are five assessment instruments: Long-term Care Facilities assessment (for people in aged residential care); Home Care Assessment (for people living at home with complex needs); Palliative Care assessment (for end of life care in aged residential care or in the community); Community Health Assessment (for people living at home with less complex needs); Contact assessment (an initial assessment). After being stripped of names, addresses and any other identifying information, the data helps policymakers, healthcare professionals and researchers find out more about the needs of older people.

Here are some statistics taken from interRAI’s 2019/2020 Annual Report that help show what an important tool interRAI is.

  • In 2019/2020, over 122,400 interRAI assessments were completed throughout New Zealand. That is an average of 335 a day!
  • In total, more than 670,000 assessments have been completed and are stored in interRAI’s data warehouse.
  • In 2019/2020, 13% of women and 8% of men aged 65 and older have had at least one interRAI assessment.
  • Every resident in aged residential care and every person receiving funded home care in New Zealand is assessed using interRAI.
  • Of the assessments completed in 2019/2020, more than half were completed in aged residential care facilities (approx. 70,500). The 31,300 Home Care assessments were also completed, accounting for 25% of total assessments.
  • Throughout the country, there are more than 5000 trained interRAI assessors. In response to the Alert Level 4 announcement in March 2020, interRAI services trained 329 new assessors in three months.

Find: Nationwide services & contact details

Updated: 16 Feb 2024
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