The following information applies to all values in the table.
Census Year: 2023, Subject population: Census usually resident population, Age group: 15-*, Unit: Count
Source of personal income
Number of people
No source of income during that time
252,702
Wages, salary, commissions, bonuses etc paid by my employer
2,464,479
Self-employment or business I own and work in
584,658
Interest, dividends, rent, other investments
744,558
Regular payments from ACC or a private work accident insurer
77,601
New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran's Pension
740,076
Other superannuation, pensions, or annuities (other than NZ Superannuation, Veteran's Pension or war pensions)
90,507
Jobseeker Support
230,922
Sole Parent Support
94,416
Supported Living Payment
124,263
Student Allowance
65,034
Other government benefits, government income support payments, war pensions or paid parental leave
350,061
Other sources of income, including support payments from people who do not live in my household
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
These figures may not be strictly comparable with other data collections such as the Household Labour Force Survey and the Quarterly Employment Survey. This is because those surveys are based upon only a sample of the population and they don’t account for all income sources.
When using the data, users should be aware that there has been a change in methodology for admin data resulting in better coverage across sources in the 2023 Census.
Care must also be taken when cross-tabulating 'sources of personal income' with 'total personal income', as people may make money from more than one source.
These figures identify all the various sources from which a person received income in the 12 months ending 7 March 2023. This excludes any income that is not money.
This information applies to the census usually resident population aged 15 years and over.
People may obtain income from more than one source.
Response rates and final data sources
The response rate from 2023 Census forms was 84.8%. 14.4% were sourced from administrative data supplied by Inland Revenue, Ministry of Social Development, and Working for Families. 0.8% 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.
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.
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.