Gender of people in New Zealand

2023 Census, number of people

The following information applies to all values in the table. Census Year: 2023, Subject population: Census usually resident population, Unit: Count
Gender	Number of people
Another gender / He ira kē anō	20,403
Female / Wahine	2,512,779
Male / Tāne	2,460,741

Data Quality

Using this data

You can use this data confidently. Stats NZ rated it as high quality. For more information, read about response rates below.

Stats NZ gives data an overall rating based on sources and coverage, consistency, and data quality.

Why am I seeing this?

This data is from the Census. The past two censuses had relatively low response rates, particularly for some areas of New Zealand and groups of people.

Where information was missing or unreadable, Stats NZ attempted to use data from a range of places such as previous censuses or administrative data that is collected by other government agencies. If that isn't available, Stats NZ use statistical models to predict what the missing data would have been. This is called imputation.

Things to be aware of

As 'Another gender' is a small population, some quality issues with a small number of responses may affect data. Inconsistencies may be apparent when cross-tabulating with other small populations.

Read the response rates and final data sources section for more information.

Subject matter

Gender refers to a person’s social and personal identity as male, female, or another gender or genders that may be non-binary. Gender may include gender identity and/or gender expression. A person’s current gender may differ from the sex recorded at their birth, and may differ from what is indicated on their current legal documents. A person’s gender may change over time. Some people may not identify with any gender. In 2023, the question asked, ‘What is your gender?’ and included response options of ‘male’, ‘female’, and ‘another gender’. The 2018 Census did not include a question on gender. The question on the forms read ‘Are you?’, with ‘male’ and ‘female’ as the response options.

Response rates and final data sources

The response rate from 2023 Census forms was 89.7%. 2.6% were sourced from administrative data pulled from MSD. 7.6% of responses were imputed.

Definitions

Census usually resident population count of New Zealand: a count of all people who usually live in and were present in New Zealand on census night. It excludes overseas visitors and New Zealand residents who are temporarily overseas.
Census night population count of New Zealand: a count of all people present in New Zealand on census night. This includes visitors from overseas who are counted on census night but excludes residents who are temporarily overseas on census night.
Dwelling: A dwelling is any building or structure that is used, or intended to be used, for human habitation. There can be more than one dwelling within a building. For example, each apartment in an apartment building is a dwelling.
Household: either one person who usually resides alone, or two or more people who usually reside together and share facilities in a private dwelling. Included are people who were absent on census night but usually live in a particular dwelling and are members of that household, as long as they were reported as being absent on the dwelling form or the household set-up form.
Response 'stated': Members of the subject population (eg. people or dwelling) for which the data was obtained through a census form, administrative sources, or imputed.

Data calculation/treatment

This data has been randomly rounded to protect confidentiality.
Figure.NZ calculated percentages based on the 'Total stated' values for each variable. Individual percentages may not sum to 100% and values for the same data may vary in different tables.

For more information

https://datainfoplus.stats.govt.nz/item/nz.govt.stats/7c1335e0-c2c7-4217-ac48-bfc7a68aea48
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2023-census-population-dwelling-and-housing-highlights/

Inclusions

Geographically the census includes the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands, plus largely uninhabited islands including the Kermadec Islands, Three Kings Islands, Mayor Island, Motiti Island, White Island, Moutohora Island, Bounty Islands, Snares Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Island.

Data provided by

Stats NZ

Dataset name

Census: Totals by topic for individuals, (NZ total), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses

Webpage:

https://explore.data.stats.govt.nz/vis?fs[0]=2023%20Census%2C0%7CTotals%20by%20topic%23CAT_TOTALS_BY_TOPIC%23&pg=0&fc=2023%20Census&bp=true&snb=9&df[ds]=ds-nsiws-disseminate&df[id]=CEN23_TBT_004&df[ag]=STATSNZ&df[vs]=1.0&dq=rc%2Bpc%2BasTotal%2BasMed%2BbpTotal%2BbiTotal%2BegTotal%2BmdTotal%2BlsTotal%2BliTotal%2BgeTotal%2BsbTotal%2BrbTotal%2BsiTotal%2BrsTotal%2BpsTotal%2BcbTotal%2BraTotal%2BcsTotal%2BdiTotal%2BdcTotal%2BdhTotal%2BdrTotal%2BdsTotal%2BdwTotal%2BddTotal%2BhoTotal%2BriTotal%2ByuTotal%2Byumea%2ByaTotal%2Byamea%2BspTotal%2BteTotal%2BhqTotal%2BqiTotal%2BpqTotal%2BpiTotal%2BibTotal%2Bibmed%2BwsTotal%2BseTotal%2BupTotal%2BhwTotal%2Bhwmea%2BmwTotal%2Bmwmea%2BinTotal%2BocTotal%2BtwTotal%2BsoTotal%2BcdTotal%2BjsTotal%2BqaTotal%2BsqTotal%2B1yTotal%2B5yTotal%2BvsTotal%2BctTotal%2BiaTotal%2BazTotal%2BizTotal.2013%2B2018%2B2023&ly[rw]=CEN23_TBT_IND_001&ly[cl]=CEN23_YEAR_001&to[TIME]=false

How to find the data

At the URL provided, download unfiltered data.
Figure.nz calculated the percentages for processing purposes.

Import & extraction details

File as imported: Census: Totals by topic for individuals, (NZ total), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses

From the dataset Census: Totals by topic for individuals, (NZ total), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses, this data was extracted:

Sheet: Census_individuals_totals_2023
Range: I2121:M2132
Provided: 24 data points

This data forms the table Census - Usually resident population by gender 2013, 2018, 2023.

Dataset originally released on:

October 03, 2024

About this dataset

The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings is the official count of how many people and dwellings there are in New Zealand. It provides a snapshot of our society at a point in time and helps to tell the story of its social and economic change. The 2023 Census, held on Tuesday 7 March, was the 35th New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings. The first official census was run in 1851, and since 1877 there has been a census every five years, with only four exceptions.

Purpose of collection

Census information is used by government agencies, local authorities, businesses, community organisations, and the public for developing and implementing new policies, research, planning, and decision-making. It helps with making decisions about how to best use public funding, especially in areas of health, education, housing, and transport.
The census is also the primary source of information used for deciding the number of general and Māori electorates, along with data from the corresponding Māori Electoral Option.