Employment status of people working in all industries in New Zealand
2015 Q4–2025 Q4, thousands of people
| Quarter | Employment status | Thousands of people |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,042.8 |
| 2015 Q4 | Employer | 86.0 |
| 2015 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 248.0 |
| 2016 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,046.4 |
| 2016 Q1 | Employer | 87.9 |
| 2016 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 261.8 |
| 2016 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,002.7 |
| 2016 Q2 | Employer | 150.8 |
| 2016 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 294.2 |
| 2016 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,022.2 |
| 2016 Q3 | Employer | 160.7 |
| 2016 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 283.0 |
| 2016 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,075.2 |
| 2016 Q4 | Employer | 166.2 |
| 2016 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 279.0 |
| 2017 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,085.7 |
| 2017 Q1 | Employer | 155.6 |
| 2017 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 303.8 |
| 2017 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,082.6 |
| 2017 Q2 | Employer | 156.4 |
| 2017 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 288.7 |
| 2017 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,108.2 |
| 2017 Q3 | Employer | 162.8 |
| 2017 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 297.0 |
| 2017 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,136.2 |
| 2017 Q4 | Employer | 165.6 |
| 2017 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 308.3 |
| 2018 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,153.6 |
| 2018 Q1 | Employer | 160.7 |
| 2018 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 302.2 |
| 2018 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,163.1 |
| 2018 Q2 | Employer | 162.6 |
| 2018 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 292.1 |
| 2018 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,171.2 |
| 2018 Q3 | Employer | 162.0 |
| 2018 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 305.5 |
| 2018 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,173.2 |
| 2018 Q4 | Employer | 158.3 |
| 2018 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 302.3 |
| 2019 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,177.0 |
| 2019 Q1 | Employer | 158.9 |
| 2019 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 316.9 |
| 2019 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,181.9 |
| 2019 Q2 | Employer | 163.2 |
| 2019 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 306.8 |
| 2019 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,190.4 |
| 2019 Q3 | Employer | 173.2 |
| 2019 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 299.5 |
| 2019 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,213.9 |
| 2019 Q4 | Employer | 173.9 |
| 2019 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 312.5 |
| 2020 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,213.4 |
| 2020 Q1 | Employer | 172.5 |
| 2020 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 328.6 |
| 2020 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,172.8 |
| 2020 Q2 | Employer | 168.0 |
| 2020 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 344.2 |
| 2020 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,149.7 |
| 2020 Q3 | Employer | 180.4 |
| 2020 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 334.5 |
| 2020 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,183.6 |
| 2020 Q4 | Employer | 180.8 |
| 2020 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 341.2 |
| 2021 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,181.6 |
| 2021 Q1 | Employer | 171.9 |
| 2021 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 351.7 |
| 2021 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,194.1 |
| 2021 Q2 | Employer | 186.3 |
| 2021 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 339.7 |
| 2021 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,237.9 |
| 2021 Q3 | Employer | 178.4 |
| 2021 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 348.6 |
| 2021 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,251.9 |
| 2021 Q4 | Employer | 184.2 |
| 2021 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 349.6 |
| 2022 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,238.6 |
| 2022 Q1 | Employer | 182.4 |
| 2022 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 351.4 |
| 2022 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,247.7 |
| 2022 Q2 | Employer | 174.4 |
| 2022 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 336.0 |
| 2022 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,266.8 |
| 2022 Q3 | Employer | 174.9 |
| 2022 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 354.8 |
| 2022 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,298.6 |
| 2022 Q4 | Employer | 170.6 |
| 2022 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 365.7 |
| 2023 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,325.0 |
| 2023 Q1 | Employer | 168.9 |
| 2023 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 361.3 |
| 2023 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,350.3 |
| 2023 Q2 | Employer | 168.7 |
| 2023 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 351.1 |
| 2023 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,344.2 |
| 2023 Q3 | Employer | 164.8 |
| 2023 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 366.4 |
| 2023 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,392.4 |
| 2023 Q4 | Employer | 164.2 |
| 2023 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 350.1 |
| 2024 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,360.7 |
| 2024 Q1 | Employer | 171.8 |
| 2024 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 351.8 |
| 2024 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,360.3 |
| 2024 Q2 | Employer | 167.3 |
| 2024 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 347.8 |
| 2024 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,349.7 |
| 2024 Q3 | Employer | 168.7 |
| 2024 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 341.9 |
| 2024 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,356.0 |
| 2024 Q4 | Employer | 171.9 |
| 2024 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 348.3 |
| 2025 Q1 | Paid employee | 2,339.4 |
| 2025 Q1 | Employer | 167.8 |
| 2025 Q1 | Self-employed no employees | 349.9 |
| 2025 Q2 | Paid employee | 2,330.6 |
| 2025 Q2 | Employer | 160.7 |
| 2025 Q2 | Self-employed no employees | 347.2 |
| 2025 Q3 | Paid employee | 2,326.4 |
| 2025 Q3 | Employer | 166.4 |
| 2025 Q3 | Self-employed no employees | 345.6 |
| 2025 Q4 | Paid employee | 2,360.2 |
| 2025 Q4 | Employer | 165.1 |
| 2025 Q4 | Self-employed no employees | 353.7 |
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.
Self-employed: This survey defines a person as self-employed if they work for themselves and do not have any employees.
ANZSIC06: the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006.
For more information
Changes to data collection/processing
This release incorporates revisions to historical household labour force survey data to account for the latest national population estimates. As such, figures published in this update may differ from those previously published.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Household Labour Force Survey: Persons Employed by Employment Status by Industry, ANZSIC06 (Quarterly) 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 > Persons Employed by Employment Status by Industry, ANZSIC06 (Qrtly-Mar/Jun/Sep/Dec)'. All variables were selected to create this dataset.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Household Labour Force Survey: Persons Employed by Employment Status by Industry, ANZSIC06 (Quarterly) December 2025
From the dataset Household Labour Force Survey: Persons Employed by Employment Status by Industry, ANZSIC06 (Quarterly) December 2025, this data was extracted:
- Rows: 4-69
- Columns: 2-108
- Provided: 3,564 data points
This data forms the table Labour Force - Persons employed by employment status by industry 2009 Q3–2025 Q4.
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.