Barwon MP and Minister for Western NSW has declared the health of residents in rural and remote NSW is at the forefront of the state government after it was revealed life expectancy in the state's west is 18 years lower than in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney.

A Fairfax Media analysis using Australian Bureau of Statistics figures revealed the average life expectancy in very remote regions of NSW was 67.8 years in 2013, the same as a decade ago and down from a peak of 71.1 in 2009.

Three of the worst Local Government Areas for life expectancy and death rates are in Mr Humphries' electorate. Bourke has the highest with 10.9 people per 1000 in 2013. Walgett is third worst at 8.7 deaths and Bogan fifth worst with 8.2.

The Snowy River was the best in NSW with just 3.6 deaths, while Manly, North Sydney and Woollahra had 3.8 each.

In a written statement, Mr Humphries said he believed the figures would improve again because of an increase in funding.

"The health and wellbeing of rural and remote communities is an absolute priority for the NSW Liberals and Nationals Government and that is why we have boosted Western NSW Local Heath District's budget by $36 million to a record $801 million this year. This funding is supporting the district to ensure they can deliver the right health care, in the right place, at the right time," Mr Humphries said.

Mayors of regional communities argued more needed to be done. Bogan Shire mayor Ray Donald said even an increase in the number of GPs would make a difference.

"People who live in semi-remote areas are just as important as those in Hornsby and Parramatta but [those] have access to much better healthcare. It's not possible for us to provide a high standard of healthcare in the very remote locations but there are things we can do to improve the rural and remote communities," Cr Donald said.

"The biggest problem for the Bogan Shire is that everything is becoming more centred. The Western Local Health District had a massive deficit of $19 million which it has reduced to $500,000. That is commendable in one way but it means there have been sacrifices to get there."

Cr Donald said early detection of diseases was crucial to reducing deaths but the Bogan Shire needed more doctors.

"We have two good GPs but only one has a VMO [visiting medical officer] which means we have one person on call 24 hours a day and there are times we don't have a doctor at the hospital, which places extra pressure on nurses," he said.

Mr Donald also said it was important to try to curb the rates of smoking, obesity and diabetes, which were traditionally higher in rural and remote areas than in cities.