Respiratory illnesses drive over 97,000 New Zealand hospital admissions in 2025

According to the Cardiac and Respiratory Foundation, New Zealand saw 97,151 hospital admissions for respiratory disease in 2025, a notable increase from 80,230 in 2022. The surge is driven largely by the very young and the elderly, who together represent around 70% of all cases. Pacific peoples were hospitalised at 2.4 times the rate of other ethnicities, and Māori at nearly twice that rate.

Lung cancer contributed 3,477 admissions in 2025 and caused 1,912 deaths in 2022, with Māori mortality at 2.75 times the national average and Pacific peoples at 1.52 times. The report also linked school attendance to higher asthma-related absences, noting an estimated loss of 466,000 school days annually. The foundation called for funding of the RSV vaccine nirsevimab for infants and high-risk children to curb future admissions.