Selected supplementary assistance granted in New Zealand
By type, 2020 Q2–2025 Q2, thousands of grants
| Quarter | Category | Number of grants |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 Q2 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 87,834 |
| 2020 Q3 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 97,137 |
| 2020 Q4 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 95,388 |
| 2021 Q1 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 88,188 |
| 2021 Q2 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 82,905 |
| 2021 Q3 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 87,801 |
| 2021 Q4 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 88,935 |
| 2022 Q1 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 86,952 |
| 2022 Q2 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 85,911 |
| 2022 Q3 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 88,917 |
| 2022 Q4 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 91,623 |
| 2023 Q1 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 89,979 |
| 2023 Q2 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 90,780 |
| 2023 Q3 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 92,448 |
| 2023 Q4 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 95,997 |
| 2024 Q1 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 97,785 |
| 2024 Q2 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 98,385 |
| 2024 Q3 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 103,521 |
| 2024 Q4 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 108,807 |
| 2025 Q1 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 109,800 |
| 2025 Q2 | Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS) | 106,899 |
| 2020 Q2 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 233,883 |
| 2020 Q3 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 235,716 |
| 2020 Q4 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 237,975 |
| 2021 Q1 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 239,016 |
| 2021 Q2 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 235,218 |
| 2021 Q3 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 233,304 |
| 2021 Q4 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 228,393 |
| 2022 Q1 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 223,302 |
| 2022 Q2 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 219,741 |
| 2022 Q3 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 219,684 |
| 2022 Q4 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 218,715 |
| 2023 Q1 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 218,214 |
| 2023 Q2 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 218,727 |
| 2023 Q3 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 218,298 |
| 2023 Q4 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 217,650 |
| 2024 Q1 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 216,438 |
| 2024 Q2 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 215,409 |
| 2024 Q3 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 215,586 |
| 2024 Q4 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 216,120 |
| 2025 Q1 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 215,376 |
| 2025 Q2 | Disability Allowance (DA) | 215,043 |
| 2020 Q2 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 348,756 |
| 2020 Q3 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 366,159 |
| 2020 Q4 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 378,132 |
| 2021 Q1 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 360,549 |
| 2021 Q2 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 351,912 |
| 2021 Q3 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 357,369 |
| 2021 Q4 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 362,877 |
| 2022 Q1 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 347,670 |
| 2022 Q2 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 344,742 |
| 2022 Q3 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 346,995 |
| 2022 Q4 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 353,091 |
| 2023 Q1 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 343,572 |
| 2023 Q2 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 346,755 |
| 2023 Q3 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 354,807 |
| 2023 Q4 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 366,426 |
| 2024 Q1 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 360,279 |
| 2024 Q2 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 364,131 |
| 2024 Q3 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 372,594 |
| 2024 Q4 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 385,026 |
| 2025 Q1 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 377,004 |
| 2025 Q2 | Accommodation Supplement (AS) | 381,582 |
| 2020 Q2 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 12,642 |
| 2020 Q3 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 12,975 |
| 2020 Q4 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 12,954 |
| 2021 Q1 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,119 |
| 2021 Q2 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,191 |
| 2021 Q3 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,320 |
| 2021 Q4 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,140 |
| 2022 Q1 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,095 |
| 2022 Q2 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,263 |
| 2022 Q3 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,311 |
| 2022 Q4 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,209 |
| 2023 Q1 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,326 |
| 2023 Q2 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,662 |
| 2023 Q3 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,812 |
| 2023 Q4 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 14,079 |
| 2024 Q1 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 13,890 |
| 2024 Q2 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 14,046 |
| 2024 Q3 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 14,259 |
| 2024 Q4 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 14,460 |
| 2025 Q1 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 14,211 |
| 2025 Q2 | Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB) and Orphan's Benefit (OB) | 14,370 |
Definitions
Working age: Working-age clients are aged 18-64 years. This definition reflects the minimum age of eligibility for most main benefits and the age of qualification for New Zealand Superannuation. In some cases benefits may be received by individuals outside of 'working age' (i.e. 18-64 years). Examples of this include individuals being eligible for a benefit from a younger age, or people over 65 years receiving the Emergency Benefit due to residency issues impacting on their eligibility for superannuation.
Ethnic group: Ethnic group data is self-identified and multiple ethnic groups may be chosen by an individual as fits their preference or self-concept. Multiple selected groups are then prioritised into a hierarchy. The Māori ethnic group has the highest priority in this hierarchy, followed by Pacific peoples. NZ European has the lowest priority.
Continuous duration: The length of time the client has continuously been receiving any main benefit.
Other main benefits: Includes the remaining benefit categories such as Emergency Benefit and working-age Youth Payment/Young Parent Payment (YP/YPP).
For more information
Changes to data collection/processing
From the quarter ended March 2025, data provided about Accommodation-related hardship payments have included non-recoverable grants for moving costs, security cover, other accommodation-related costs paid in advance, and other accommodation-related costs paid in arrears.
From 1 July 2023, the revised Child Support policy came into effect. This means that Child Support payments would be passed on, in full, by Inland Revenue to sole parent beneficiaries. This resulted in a smaller than usual increase in recipients of Temporary Additional Support (TAS) in the September 2023 quarter. The income received from Child Support payments meant that some sole parents were no longer eligible for TAS.
Data provided by
Ministry of Social Development
Dataset name
Benefit Fact Sheets: National level data tables June 2025
Webpage:
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/index.html
How to find the data
At URL provided, under Excel Tables, select 'National level data tables - June 2025'. All Recipients tables were combined into one tab for processing purposes by Figure.NZ.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Benefit Fact Sheets: National level data tables June 2025
From the dataset Benefit Fact Sheets: National level data tables June 2025, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: Supplementary - last 5 years
- Range:
C5:W67 - Provided: 798 data points
This data forms the table Benefits - People receiving supplementary assistance by type 2020 Q2–2025 Q2.
Dataset originally released on:
June 2025
About this dataset
The Benefit Fact Sheets provide a high-level view of trends in social welfare receipt, including Jobseeker Support, Supported Living Payment, Sole Parent Support and other main benefits.