Treasury - Government debt and net worth (per capita) 1997–2023

Gross Debt:
Total Crown gross debt equals the total borrowings (both sovereign-guaranteed and non-sovereign guaranteed) of the total Crown. This equates to the amount in the total Crown balance sheet and represents the complete picture of whole-of-Crown debt obligations to external parties.

Gross Sovereign Issued Debt (GSID):
Gross sovereign-issued debt is debt issued by the sovereign (ie, core Crown) and includes Government stock held by the NZS Fund, GSF, ACC or EQC for example. In other words, the total sovereign-issued debt does not eliminate any internal cross-holdings held by these entities.

Gross Sovereign Issued Debt (GSID) excluding Reserve Bank settlement cash:
The Reserve Bank is part of the core Crown and any increase in debt flows through to GSID, however settlement cash activity is financed from commercial banks and does not arise out of any change in the cash requirements of the Government.

Net worth:
Total assets less total liabilities of all Government reporting entities. The change in net worth in any given forecast year is largely driven by the operating balance and property, plant and equipment revaluations.

Net worth attributable to the Crown:
Represents the Crown’s share of total assets and liabilities and excludes minority interests’ share of those assets and liabilities.

Former Core Crown Net Debt definition 1:
Represents GSID less financial assets (excluding financial assets held by the NZS Fund). This can provide information about the sustainability of the Government's accounts, and is used by some international agencies when determining the creditworthiness of a country.

Former Core Crown Net Debt definition 2:
Represents GSID less core Crown financial assets (excluding advances and financial assets held by the NZS Fund). Advances and financial assets held by the NZS Fund are excluded as these assets are less liquid and/or they are made for public policy reasons rather than purposes associated with government financing.

Net Debt (new definition): The Treasury is adopting a new net debt measure to bring New Zealand closer in line with international reporting of net debt and improve comparability of New Zealand's fiscal position with other countries. The new indicator includes Crown entity borrowings, core Crown advances, and all assets and liabilities of the NZS Fund.

COFOG - Classification of the Functions of Government: A classification defined by the United Nations Statistics Division. Its purpose is to "classify the purpose of transactions such as outlays on final consumption expenditure, intermediate consumption, gross capital formation and capital and current transfers, by general government".
GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Practice: The standard framework of guidelines for financial accounting used in any given jurisdiction; generally known as accounting standards or standard accounting practice. These include the standards, conventions, and rules that accountants follow in recording and summarizing and in the preparation of financial statements.
IFRS - International Financial Reporting Standards: The rules to be followed by accountants internationally to maintain books of accounts which are comparable, understandable, reliable and relevant as per the users internal or external.
PBE - Public Benefit Entity: A reporting entity whose primary objective is to provide goods or services for community or social benefit, and where any equity has been provided with a view to supporting that primary objective rather than for a financial return to equity holders.

FISCAL DATA
Data from 1997-2004 for accrual measures (expenses, revenue, OBEGAL, Operating Balance and debt series) are based on values published in the Financial Statements of Government but have been backdated to be consistent with International Financial Reporting Standards. The values, therefore, differ from those in the published accounts. Cash measures (cash receipts and residual cash) are consistent with those in the published accounts.

Data from 2005 onwards for accrual measures (expenses, revenue, OBEGAL, operating balance and debt series) are based on values published in the Financial Statements of Government but have been backdated to be consistent with Public Sector PBE Standards. PBE Standards were adopted in 2015, therefore for 2005-2014 the values differ from those in the published accounts. Cash measures (cash receipts and residual cash) are consistent with those in the published accounts.

POPULATION
The estimated resident population is based on the Infoshare series (table reference DPE056AG) available from Stats NZ.

Values are nominal.

Two new PBE accounting standards were adopted at 30 June 2020 and the results as at 30 June 2019 have been restated to reflect this change. Further information can be found in note 28 of the 2019/20 Financial Statements of Government.

Under 'Formats and related files', select 'Fiscal Time Series - Historical Fiscal Indicators 1972-2023'.
Please note this spreadsheet has been edited by Figure.NZ. % of GDP measures have been replaced with per capita measures. The estimated resident population is based on the Infoshare series (table reference DPE056AG) available from Stats NZ (https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/).