European adults in New Zealand who are unemployed
By sex, year ended December 2009–2025, thousands of people
| Year ended December | Sex | Thousands of people |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Male | 43.0 |
| 2009 | Female | 37.0 |
| 2010 | Male | 40.6 |
| 2010 | Female | 40.2 |
| 2011 | Male | 40.1 |
| 2011 | Female | 40.8 |
| 2012 | Male | 45.7 |
| 2012 | Female | 42.5 |
| 2013 | Male | 39.8 |
| 2013 | Female | 40.9 |
| 2014 | Male | 35.7 |
| 2014 | Female | 39.3 |
| 2015 | Male | 37.8 |
| 2015 | Female | 37.8 |
| 2016 | Male | 37.9 |
| 2016 | Female | 37.7 |
| 2017 | Male | 34.9 |
| 2017 | Female | 35.8 |
| 2018 | Male | 36.4 |
| 2018 | Female | 32.9 |
| 2019 | Male | 32.3 |
| 2019 | Female | 30.9 |
| 2020 | Male | 37.6 |
| 2020 | Female | 36.1 |
| 2021 | Male | 32.0 |
| 2021 | Female | 30.2 |
| 2022 | Male | 27.8 |
| 2022 | Female | 28.4 |
| 2023 | Male | 32.4 |
| 2023 | Female | 30.5 |
| 2024 | Male | 40.0 |
| 2024 | Female | 36.5 |
| 2025 | Male | 42.4 |
| 2025 | Female | 38.0 |
Definitions
Employed: people in the working-age population who, during the reference week, did one of the following:
- worked for one hour or more for pay or profit in the context of an employee/employer relationship or self-employment
- worked without pay for one hour or more in work which contributed directly to the operation of a farm, business, or professional practice owned or operated by a relative
- had a job but were not at work due to: own illness or injury, personal or family responsibilities, bad weather or mechanical breakdown, direct involvement in an industrial dispute, or leave or holiday.
Labour force: members of the working-age population, who during the survey reference week, were classified as 'employed' or 'unemployed’.
Working-age population: the usually resident, non-institutionalised, civilian population of New Zealand aged 15 years and over. This is the target population for this survey.
Data calculation/treatment
Due to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, several seasonally adjusted series were specially treated to maintain a consistent estimate of the seasonal pattern.
The ethnic group is calculated as "total response", which means each person was assigned to each ethnic group they have self-identified with.
For more information
Data provided by
Dataset name
Household Labour Force Survey: Labour Force Status by Sex by Total Resp Ethnic Group (Annual) December 2025
Webpage:
https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'Work income and spending > Household Labour Force Survey - HLF > Labour Force Status by Sex by Total Resp Ethnic Group (Annual-Dec)'. All variables were selected to create this dataset.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Household Labour Force Survey: Labour Force Status by Sex by Total Resp Ethnic Group (Annual) December 2025
From the dataset Household Labour Force Survey: Labour Force Status by Sex by Total Resp Ethnic Group (Annual) December 2025, this data was extracted:
- Rows: 5-22
- Columns: 2-385
- Provided: 3,456 data points
This data forms the table Labour Force - Labour force status by ethnic group and sex Year ended December 2009–2025.
Dataset originally released on:
February 04, 2026
Purpose of collection
The primary purpose of the survey is to estimate the number of people employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force (NILF), and from them, the unemployment rate for the New Zealand labour market. The Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) is designed to produce statistics at the family level, and use of the survey for a purpose for which it was not designed is inevitably subject to some limitations.