| Deaths | Name or description | Type | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|
| 49 | Featherston Prisoner of war camp riot | Riot | 25 February 1943 | Featherston | |
| 45 | SS Elingamite | Shipwreck | 9 November 1902 | Off West Island in the Three Kings Islands | |
| 43 | Ralph Mine disaster | Mine explosion | 12 September 1914 | Huntly | Methane and coal dust explosion [12] |
| 41 | Ballantyne's store disaster | Fire | 18 November 1947 | Christchurch | |
| 40+ [13] [14] | Great storm of 1868, flash floods and 12 shipwrecks | Storm | 3 February 1868 | Predominantly eastern areas of New Zealand | Death toll likely understated as impact on many Māori unknown |
| 37 | Seacliff Lunatic Asylum | Fire | 8 December 1942 | Seacliff | |
| 34 | Kaitangata Mine disaster | Mine explosion | 21 February 1879 | Kaitangata | Explosion of fire-damp (methane) |
| 34 [13] [15] | SS Taiaroa | Shipwreck | 11 April 1886 | Waiau Toa / Clarence River mouth | |
| 34 [16] | Dunedin | Shipwreck (presumed) | 1890 | Between Oamaru and London | |
| 30 | Marlborough | Shipwreck (presumed) | 1890 | Between Lyttelton and London | |
| 29 [17] | MV Kaitawa | Shipwreck | 23 May 1966 | Near Pandora Bank, Cape Reinga | |
| 29 | Pike River Mine disaster | Mine explosion | 19 November 2010 | Northwest of Greymouth | Large methane explosion [18] |
| 26 | Barque Maria | Shipwreck [15] | 1851 | Cape Terawhiti | |
| 25+ [19] [20] | Storm of 1897 | Floods and shipwreck | 16 April 1897 | North Island | Flooding at Clive, boating accidents, and the wreck of the Zuleika near Cape Palliser. 25 confirmed deaths and 6 unconfirmed |
| 25 [21] [22] | MV Joyita | Ghost ship | October 1955 | En route from Apia, Samoa to Tokelau | |
| 24 [23] | Assaye | Shipwreck (presumed) | 1890 | Between London and Wellington; wreckage washed up at the Chatham Islands 7 months after the ship left London | |
| 23 | New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441 | Air accident | 3 July 1963 | Kaimai Ranges | |
| 22 [24] | launch Ranui | Shipwreck | 30 December 1950 | Off Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty | |
| 22 | 2019 Whakaari/White Island eruption | Volcanic eruption | 9 December 2019 | Whakaari/White Island | |
| 21 [25] [26] | Brigantine Sophia Pate | Shipwreck | August 1841 | Kaipara Harbour | |
| 21 [27] | Kopuawhara flash flood of 1938 | Flood | 19 February 1938 | Destroyed the Kopuawhara railway workers camp | |
| 21 | Hyde railway disaster | Rail accident | 4 June 1943 | Near Hyde | |
| 20+ [28] | Tsunami from 1868 Arica earthquake | Tsunami | 13 August 1868 | Chatham Islands | |
| 20 [15] | Schooner St. Vincent | Shipwreck | 14 February 1869 | Palliser Bay | |
| 20 [29] | RNZAF Douglas C-47 disappearance | Air accident | 24 September 1945 | En route from Vanuatu | |
| 19 [30] | Strongman Mine | Mine explosion | 19 January 1967 | Near Greymouth | |
| 18 [31] | Canoe on Lake Rotorua | Boating accident | 16 April 1870 | Near Mokoia Island on Lake Rotorua | |
| 18 [32] | Clyde | Shipwreck | 6 November 1884 | Horseshoe Bay, near Akaroa, Banks Peninsula | |
| 18 [33] | Canoe on Motu River | Boating accident | 4 August 1900 | Motu River – 25 miles from Opotiki [34] | There were 16 children and 2 adults in the six person canoe |
| 18 [35] | Ketch Enterprise and steamer Tauranga | Shipwreck | 23 July 1870 | Between Cape Rodney and Sail Rock, Hauraki Gulf | Those lost — fourteen crew and four passengers — all came from the Tauranga. The crew of the Enterprise survived in the ship's longboat. [36] |
| 18 [37] | Lastingham | Shipwreck | 1 September 1884 | Cape Jackson, Cook Strait | |
| 17 | Ongarue railway disaster | Rail accident [13] | 6 July 1923 | Ongarue | |
| 17 [38] | 1929 Murchison earthquake | Earthquake | 17 June 1929 | Murchison | |
| 16 [39] | 1943 Liberator crash at Whenuapai | Air accident | 2 August 1943 | Whenuapai | Those killed were mainly Japanese civilians who were being repatriated in a prisoner exchange. |
| 16 [40] | Capitaine Bougainville | Shipwreck | 3 September 1975 | Whananaki | |
| 15 [13] | Lockheed Lodestar airliner crash | Air accident | 18 March 1949 | Near Waikanae | |
| 15 [41] | MV Holmglen | Shipwreck | 24 November 1959 | Near Timaru | |
| 15 [42] | Brynderwyns bus accident | Road accident | 7 February 1963 | Brynderwyn Hills | |
| 15 [43] | Derry Castle | Shipwreck | 20 March 1887 | Enderby Island, Auckland Islands | |
| 14 [44] [45] | Hutt River flood | Floods | 17 January 1858 | Hutt Valley | |
| 14 [46] | Two Hudson bombers lost off the New Zealand coast | Air accident | 21 August 1944 | En route from Fiji | No. 4 Squadron RNZAF |
| 14 [47] | Aramoana massacre | Spree killing | 13 November 1990 | Aramoana, near Dunedin | |
| 14 | Cave Creek disaster | Structural failure | 28 April 1995 | Paparoa National Park | |
| 13 [15] | Tasmania | Shipwreck | 1897 | Māhia Peninsula | |
| 13 [48] | SS Ventnor | Shipwreck | 28 October 1902 | Off Omapere, Hokianga | |
| 13 | NAC Electra air crash | Air accident | 23 October 1948 | On Mount Ruapehu | |
| 12 [49] | L'Alcmène | Shipwreck | 3 June 1851 | Baylys Beach, Kaipara | A French navy corvette |
| 12 [50] | Ferry Pride of the Yarra and paddle steamer Favourite | Collision | 6 July 1863 | Otago Harbour | |
| 12 [51] | Cafe Chantant fire, The Octagon, Dunedin | Fire | 8 September 1879 | Dunedin | |
| 12 [52] | Barque Lizzie Bell | Shipwreck | 24 July 1901 | Waimate, Taranaki | |
| 12 [53] | Barque Dundonald | Shipwreck | 7 March 1907 | Disappointment Island, Auckland Islands | |
| 12 [54] [55] | Brigantine Rio Loge | Shipwreck (presumed) | January 1909 | Last seen in Cook Strait on 14 January, en route from Kaipara to Dunedin | May have caused the wreck of the Penguin a month later. [56] |
| 12 [57] | Cyclone of 1936 | Storm | 1 February 1936 | North Island and upper South Island | A tropical cyclone that originated near the Solomon Islands |
| 11 [58] | Glen Afton No. 1 mine | Coal mine fire | 24 September 1939 | Huntly | 11 miners, including the mine manager, died from carbon monoxide asphyxia |
| 11 [59] | B17 bomber crash | Air accident | 12 June 1942 | RNZAF Base Auckland at Whenuapai | |
| 11 [60] | 2012 Carterton hot air balloon crash | Air accident | 7 January 2012 | Near Carterton | |
| 11 [61] | Cyclone Gabrielle | Cyclone | 12 February 2023–16 February 2023 | North Island and northern South Island | |
| 10 [62] | Shamrock sailing boat | Shipwreck | 1834 | Queen Charlotte Sound | Capsized and sank. Exact location unknown. |
| 10 [63] | Brig Australia | Shipwreck | 23 May 1873 | Off Cape Campbell | |
| 10 | White Island sulphur mine | lahar following volcano crater wall collapse | 10 September 1914 | Whakaari/White Island | No bodies found. [64] [65] |
| 10 [66] | Husky and Argo lost to storm in yacht race | Shipwrecks | 21 January 1951 | Between Wellington and Christchurch | |
| 10 [67] | Aspiring Air Britten-Norman Islander, collided with terrain | Air crash | 8 August 1989 | Upper Dart Valley | |