Report shows most people are alive 30 days after surgery in New Zealand

The ‘Surgery and risk in New Zealand’ report shows that surgical outcomes in New Zealand have remained stable in recent years, across a wide range of surgical procedures and patient groups.

The report brings together the most recent national data on surgery and perioperative mortality, summarising how safety outcomes differ by factors such as the urgency and complexity of surgery, and a person’s overall health.

The report shows that the likelihood of being alive 30 days after surgery is high, with 99.4 percent of people who had surgery in 2024 alive 30 days after their surgery. Planned surgery continues to carry very low risk, risk is higher for emergency surgery, reflecting that people may be very unwell when urgent surgery is required.

The report also shows differences in outcomes between population groups. Māori and Pacific peoples have higher rates of death within 30 days of emergency surgery than Asian and European/Other ethnicities, and Māori have higher rates following planned surgery.

These results should be interpreted with care. The measure used, death from any cause within 30 days of surgery, includes all deaths in that period and reflects a range of factors, not just the surgery itself.