People employed or contracted by universities in New Zealand
By type, 2016–2024, number of people
| Year | Broad designation | Number of people |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Academic staff | 10,245 |
| 2017 | Academic staff | 10,410 |
| 2018 | Academic staff | 10,110 |
| 2019 | Academic staff | 10,235 |
| 2020 | Academic staff | 10,060 |
| 2021 | Academic staff | 10,270 |
| 2022 | Academic staff | 10,320 |
| 2023 | Academic staff | 10,475 |
| 2024 | Academic staff | 10,470 |
| 2016 | Research staff | 3,445 |
| 2017 | Research staff | 3,585 |
| 2018 | Research staff | 3,685 |
| 2019 | Research staff | 3,560 |
| 2020 | Research staff | 3,950 |
| 2021 | Research staff | 4,255 |
| 2022 | Research staff | 4,255 |
| 2023 | Research staff | 4,485 |
| 2024 | Research staff | 4,330 |
| 2016 | Other staff | 16,900 |
| 2017 | Other staff | 16,900 |
| 2018 | Other staff | 17,285 |
| 2019 | Other staff | 16,290 |
| 2020 | Other staff | 15,185 |
| 2021 | Other staff | 15,360 |
| 2022 | Other staff | 15,660 |
| 2023 | Other staff | 16,015 |
| 2024 | Other staff | 16,080 |
Definitions
Te Pūkenga: The New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST) was established in 2020 as part of reforms of vocational education. It brings together the existing 16 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) into one organisation. The subsector label Te Pūkenga takes the place of Institutes of technology and polytechnics previously published.
Changes to data collection/processing
From the year 2016 onwards staffing counts are for the full calendar year. Before this, staffing counts were a snapshot collected in the first week of August.
From 2022 "Another gender" has been added to the tables published by gender.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Tertiary Education Resources: Staffing 2024
Webpage:
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/tertiary-education/resources
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'Staffing 2024' under the 'Staffing' heading.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Tertiary Education Resources: Staffing 2024
From the dataset Tertiary Education Resources: Staffing 2024, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: HNR.2
- Range:
F5:P122 - Provided: 1,180 data points
This data forms the table Tertiary Education - Staff employed, or contracted, in tertiary education organisations, by sub-sector and designation, 2015–2024.
Dataset originally released on:
April 2025
About this dataset
At the end of every year the Ministry collects aggregated staff numbers (headcount and full-time equivalent) by a range of characteristics such as full-time or part-time status, sub-sector, staff-type (academic, research and other staff), gender, ethnic group, and age group.
Method of collection/Data provider
These workforce returns come from 8 universities, 16 subsidiaries of Te Pūkenga, three wānanga, and 184 private training establishments (PTEs).