Five hundred and fifty-three people died by suicide in 2016, the latest provisional data from the Ministry of Health shows - with the rate highest of males and Māori.
It is the highest number of suicides in New Zealand the data showed in the last 10 years, with 2015 sitting at 529 and 2014 at 510.
It found 412 males and 141 females died from suicide in New Zealand in 2016.
People aged 25-44 had the highest number of suicide, with 199 people in 2016, 112 15-24 year-olds had died by suicide, 170 45-64 year-olds and 52 people aged 65 and over.
It saw young people, 15 to 24-year-olds, having the highest rate of suicide (16.8 per 100,000), with people aged 25-44 having a rate of 16.3 per 100,000.
The rate of Māori who died by suicide was 20.3 per 100,000, with non-Māori at 9.5.
One hundred and thirty-five Māori died by suicide in 2016, 99 of those being male. 418 non-Māori died by suicide, with 313 of those male and 105 female.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the rate of suicide remained relatively stable from 2007 to 2016, with the rate of suicide decreasing from 12.3 per 100,000 in 2007 to 11.3 per 100,000 in 2016.
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