Timeliness of the data

The report uses the most recent data available at the time of production. For indicators based on annual data, this is generally the most recent year. For indicators based on mortality data (suicide and assault mortality) there can be a considerable lag between the year of occurrence and the release of data because of the time it takes to establish the cause of death. A number of indicators rely on data from the five-yearly population census, either directly (eg household crowding) or indirectly (eg life expectancy for the Māori population).