Picture a nation where ancient volcanoes meet modern cities, over a quarter of the population was born elsewhere, and nearly 40% of the land is a protected natural haven—this is the vibrant and dynamic portrait of New Zealand revealed by its latest statistics.
Key Takeaways
- New Zealand's estimated resident population as of 30 June 2023 was 5,124,100 persons
- In 2023, 70.4% of New Zealand's population lived in the North Island
- The median age of the New Zealand population in 2023 was 38.3 years
- GDP per capita (PPP) in New Zealand was $54,570 in 2023
- Nominal GDP was $253.5 billion USD in 2023
- GDP growth rate was 0.6% in 2023
- Total land area is 268,838 square kilometers
- North Island area: 113,729 sq km, South Island: 151,215 sq km
- Coastline length: 15,134 km
- Renewable energy share 85% of electricity in 2023
- Carbon emissions 36.3 Mt CO2e in 2022
- Forest sink removed 22.4 Mt CO2e in 2022
- Parliamentary democracy under constitutional monarchy
- Unicameral legislature: House of Representatives 123 seats
- Current Prime Minister Christopher Luxon since Nov 2023
New Zealand is an urban, diverse, and aging island nation with a strong economy.
Culture
- Museum visits 14 million annually pre-COVID
- Rugby union World Cup wins: 3 (1987,2011,2015)
- Haka cultural significance, performed by All Blacks
- Film industry: Lord of the Rings economic impact $200m tourism boost
- Māori population speaks te reo: 4% fluent
- Waitangi Day national holiday 6 Feb
- ANZAC Day 25 April remembrance
- Craft beer production 400+ breweries 2023
- Wine exports $2 billion NZD 2023
- Literature: Nobel Prize Maurice Wilkins 1962
- UNESCO sites: 3 (Te Wahipounamu, Tongariro, Subantarctic)
Culture Interpretation
New Zealand’s story is told in numbers that reveal a nation fiercely proud of its All Blacks and dramatic landscapes, yet still carefully navigating the complex journey of honoring its Indigenous heart.
Demographics
- New Zealand's estimated resident population as of 30 June 2023 was 5,124,100 persons
- In 2023, 70.4% of New Zealand's population lived in the North Island
- The median age of the New Zealand population in 2023 was 38.3 years
- As of 2023, New Zealand's total fertility rate was 1.60 births per woman
- In the 2018 Census, 70.2% of New Zealanders identified as European
- Māori made up 16.5% of New Zealand's population in the 2018 Census
- Pacific peoples comprised 8.1% of the population in 2018
- Asian ethnic group was 15.1% of the population in 2018
- New Zealand's sex ratio at birth in 2023 was 1.05 males per female
- Life expectancy at birth for males in New Zealand in 2023 was 80.0 years
- Life expectancy at birth for females was 83.8 years in 2023
- Urban population percentage in New Zealand was 86.6% in 2023
- Net migration rate in 2023 was 3.5 migrants per 1,000 population
- Age dependency ratio (total) was 52.5% in 2023
- Youth dependency ratio was 27.6% in 2023
- Elderly dependency ratio was 24.9% in 2023
- Population density was 19.3 people per square kilometer in 2023
- In 2023, 29.9% of the population was aged 0-19 years
- 56.7% of population aged 20-64 in 2023
- 13.4% aged 65+ in 2023
- International migrant stock was 28.2% of population in 2020
- In 2018, 27.4% of New Zealanders were born overseas
- Households numbered 1,907,100 in 2018 Census
- Average household size was 2.6 persons in 2018
- Religious affiliation: No religion 48.2% in 2018
- Christian 37.0% in 2018 Census
- Hindi speakers: 2.0% of population in 2018
- English language speakers: 95.4% in 2018
- Māori language speakers: 4.0% in 2018
- Samoan speakers: 2.2% in 2018 Census
- New Zealand's population growth rate was 0.7% in 2023
Demographics Interpretation
While New Zealand’s urbanized and aging population may seem settled at five million, it's actually a remarkably diverse, migrant-fueled, and not-terribly-fertile nation cautiously plotting its growth—with the North Island firmly in charge and everyone else just visiting the scenery.
Economy
- GDP per capita (PPP) in New Zealand was $54,570 in 2023
- Nominal GDP was $253.5 billion USD in 2023
- GDP growth rate was 0.6% in 2023
- Inflation rate (CPI) was 4.7% in 2023
- Unemployment rate was 3.9% in Q4 2023
- Public debt was 43.3% of GDP in 2023
- Current account balance was -6.9% of GDP in 2023
- Exports of goods and services were 26.9% of GDP in 2023
- Imports were 29.4% of GDP in 2023
- Dairy products account for 17% of total exports in 2023
- Meat and edible offal exports: 9% of total in 2023
- Minimum wage was NZ$23.15 per hour in 2024
- Labor force participation rate was 70.8% in 2023
- Average hourly earnings were NZ$36.47 in June 2023
- Corporate tax rate is 28% in New Zealand
- Personal income tax top rate is 39% for income over NZ$180,000
- Foreign direct investment inflow was $2.9 billion USD in 2022
- Stock market capitalization was 149% of GDP in 2022
- Tourism contributed 5.8% to GDP in 2019 pre-COVID
- Agriculture sector employed 9.3% of workforce in 2023
- Services sector GDP share was 71.5% in 2023
- Industry sector GDP share 18.3% in 2023
- Remittances received $258 million USD in 2023
- Ease of doing business rank: 1st globally in 2020 (legacy)
- Gini coefficient was 0.33 in 2021
- Household saving rate was -3.9% in 2023
- Central government debt $109.4 billion NZD in 2023
Economy Interpretation
New Zealand is the world's most comfortable sheep: it earns well above average but spends beyond its means, trusting its lush pasture to keep it afloat while inflation nibbles at its heels.
Education
- PISA science score 501 in 2022
- Tertiary education attainment 32% 25-34 year olds 2022
- Government education spending 6.4% GDP 2022
- Student-teacher ratio primary 15.2:1 2022
- Literacy rate adult 99% 2023
- Unemployment youth 11.2% 2023
- Early childhood education participation 94% 2023
- Māori education achievement gap NCEA Level 2 10% lower 2023
- Universities: 8 public institutions
- R&D spending 1.5% GDP 2022
- English proficiency EF EPI rank 8th 2023
Education Interpretation
Despite New Zealand's strong educational fundamentals, an uncomfortably persistent achievement gap and a stingy approach to R&D investment suggest the country is adept at teaching its youth to read the room, but not necessarily how to build a better one.
Environment
- Renewable energy share 85% of electricity in 2023
- Carbon emissions 36.3 Mt CO2e in 2022
- Forest sink removed 22.4 Mt CO2e in 2022
- Protected terrestrial area 30.3% in 2023
- Marine protected areas cover 7.6% of EEZ
- Freshwater quality: 61% rivers swimmable in 2023
- Air quality: PM2.5 average 5.8 µg/m³ in 2023
- Endangered species: 4,084 threatened
- Kiwi bird population ~70,000 in 2023
- Deforestation rate -0.03% annually 2010-2020
- Plastic waste per capita 15.7 kg/year
- Recycling rate 35% municipal waste in 2022
- Water use per capita 226 liters/day urban
- Biodiversity: 80,000 terrestrial species known
- Invasive species cover 40% of flora threats
- Ozone layer hole impact minimal due to latitude
- Wind energy capacity 1,048 MW in 2023
- Hydroelectricity 55% of electricity generation 2023
- Geothermal electricity 18% in 2023
- Coastal erosion affects 10% of coastline
- Sea level rise 3.4 mm/year 1993-2023
- Glacier volume loss 16% since 1970s
- Soil erosion rate averages 0.3 tonnes/ha/year
- Nitrogen surplus in agriculture 15 kg/ha in 2020
Environment Interpretation
New Zealand is a world leader in renewable electricity generation and nature conservation, yet it remains locked in a stubborn battle with its own agricultural emissions, waste habits, and invasive species, proving that even the greenest of clean slates can get pretty muddy.
Geography
- Total land area is 268,838 square kilometers
- North Island area: 113,729 sq km, South Island: 151,215 sq km
- Coastline length: 15,134 km
- Highest point: Aoraki/Mount Cook at 3,724 meters
- Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 meters
- Longest river: Waikato River 425 km
- Largest lake: Lake Taupo 616 sq km
- EEZ area: 4.3 million sq km
- Volcanic cones: over 50 active or dormant
- Geothermal fields cover 1,000 sq km
- Forest cover: 38% of land area in 2023
- Arable land: 1.8% of total land
- Permanent crops: 0.3%
- Major cities: Auckland pop 1.73 million metro
- Wellington metro 433,100
- Christchurch metro 383,200
- Distance from Auckland to Wellington: 645 km
- Tectonic plates: on boundary of Pacific and Australian plates
- Earthquakes per year: over 15,000 felt
- Tsunami risk from Pacific Ring of Fire
- Fiordland National Park: 12,607 sq km
- Tongariro National Park: 797 sq km, first UNESCO dual site
- Annual rainfall North Island average 1,200-1,600 mm
- South Island rainfall west 3,000-10,000 mm/year
- New Zealand has 20 national parks covering 8.4% of land
- Protected areas cover 30% of land
Geography Interpretation
New Zealand, a small but fiercely dramatic country, is essentially two modestly-sized islands with an extraordinary CV: they boast towering mountains and deep fiords, are constantly being shaped by earthquakes and volcanoes, contain almost no flat farmland, yet somehow manage to protect a third of their land while accommodating all their major cities on a sliver of coast.
Government
- Parliamentary democracy under constitutional monarchy
- Unicameral legislature: House of Representatives 123 seats
- Current Prime Minister Christopher Luxon since Nov 2023
- Head of state: King Charles III, Governor-General Cindy Kiro
- Voting age 18 years, universal suffrage since 1969
- MMP electoral system since 1996
- Next general election by 2026
- Corruption Perceptions Index rank 3rd globally 2023 score 85
- Human Freedom Index rank 4th in 2023
- Press Freedom Index rank 13th in 2023
- Women in parliament 50% in 2023
- Māori seats: 7 reserved plus list
- Local government: 11 regional councils, 67 territorial
- Defence budget $4.5 billion NZD 2023/24
- Military personnel 9,223 active 2023
- Nuclear-free policy since 1987
- Treaty of Waitangi 1840 foundational document
- Independent judiciary, Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann
- Freedom House score 99/100 free in 2023
- Government effectiveness percentile 97.9 in 2022
- Rule of law percentile 96.7 in 2022
- Voice of control of corruption 98.1 percentile 2022
Government Interpretation
New Zealand, a pint-sized democracy with a well-worn crown, punches far above its weight by perfectly blending British parliamentary tradition with robust Māori representation and a fiercely independent, squeaky-clean spirit that the world frankly envies.
Health
- Life expectancy 82.5 years overall 2023
- Infant mortality rate 3.8 per 1,000 live births 2023
- Obesity rate adults 34.1% in 2022
- Physicians density 3.5 per 1,000 people 2022
- Hospital beds 2.7 per 1,000 people 2021
- Immunization measles 90% children 2022
- Suicide rate 11.4 per 100,000 in 2022
- Cancer incidence 289 per 100,000 2022
- Diabetes prevalence 7.0% adults 2022
Health Interpretation
New Zealand succeeds remarkably at keeping people alive for a long time, but seems to be struggling just as remarkably to keep them healthy while doing it.
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