Under the Mana Ōrite Relationship Agreement, Te Kāhui Raraunga (TKR) will be publishing Māori descent and iwi affiliation data from the 2023 Census in partnership with Stats NZ. This will be available on Te Whata, a TKR platform.

Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023 (updated December 2023) has information about geographic boundaries as of 1 January 2023. Address data from 2013 and 2018 Censuses was updated to be consistent with the 2023 areas. Due to the changes in area boundaries and coding methodologies, 2013 and 2018 counts published in 2023 may be slightly different to those published in 2013 or 2018.  

 

The census usually resident population count of an area (subnational count) is a count of all people who usually live in that area and were present in New Zealand on census night. It excludes visitors from overseas, visitors from elsewhere in New Zealand, and residents temporarily overseas on census night. For example, a person who usually lives in Christchurch city and is visiting Wellington city on census night will be included in the census usually resident population count of Christchurch city. 

Stats NZ publishes a number of different population counts, each using a different definition and methodology. Population statistics – user guide has more information about different counts. 

Time series data should be interpreted with care due to changes in census methodology and differences in response rates between censuses. The 2023 and 2018 Censuses used a combined census methodology (using census responses and administrative data), while the 2013 Census used a full-field enumeration methodology (with no use of administrative data). 

In the 2013 Census study participation was only collected for the census usually resident population count aged 15 years and over.

For information on the 2023 dataset see Using a combined census model for the 2023 Census. We combined data from the census forms with administrative data to create the 2023 Census dataset, which meets Stats NZ's quality criteria for population structure information. We added real data about real people to the dataset where we were confident the people who hadn’t completed a census form (which is known as admin enumeration) will be counted. We also used data from the 2018 and 2013 Censuses, administrative data sources, and statistical imputation methods to fill in some missing characteristics of people and dwellings. 

 

The quality of data in the 2023 Census is assessed using the quality rating scale and the quality assurance framework to determine whether data is fit for purpose and suitable for release. Data quality assurance in the 2023 Census has more information.

Data quality ratings for 2023 Census variables has additional details about variables found within totals by topic, for example, definitions and data quality.

This data should not be used as an official measure of disability prevalence. Disability prevalence estimates are only available from the 2023 Household Disability Survey. Household Disability Survey 2023: Final content has more information about the survey.

Activity limitations are measured using the Washington Group Short Set (WGSS). The WGSS asks about six basic activities that a person might have difficulty with: seeing, hearing, walking or climbing stairs, remembering or concentrating, washing all over or dressing, and communicating. A person was classified as disabled in the 2023 Census if there was at least one of these activities that they had a lot of difficulty with or could not do at all.

Stats NZ expects that, when working with census data, it is done so with a positive purpose, as outlined in the Māori Data Governance Model (Data Iwi Leaders Group, 2023). This model states that "data should support transformative outcomes and should uplift and strengthen our relationships with each other and with our environments. The avoidance of harm is the minimum expectation for data use. Māori data should also contribute to iwi and hapū tino rangatiratanga”.

The 2023 Census confidentiality rules have been applied to 2013, 2018, and 2023 data. These rules protect the confidentiality of individuals, families, households, dwellings, and undertakings in 2023 Census data. Counts are calculated using fixed random rounding to base 3 (FRR3) and suppression of ‘sensitive’ counts less than six, where tables report multiple geographic variables and/or small populations. Individual figures may not always sum to stated totals. Applying confidentiality rules to 2023 Census data and summary of changes since 2018 and 2013 Censuses has more information about 2023 Census confidentiality rules.

Measures like averages, medians, and other quantiles are calculated from unrounded counts, with input noise added to or subtracted from each contributing value during measures calculations. Averages and medians based on less than six units (e.g. individuals, dwellings, households, families, or extended families) are suppressed. This suppression threshold changes for other quantiles. Where the cells have been suppressed, a placeholder value has been used.

To calculate percentages, divide the figure for the category of interest by the figure for 'Total stated' where this applies.

-997 Not available

-999 Confidential

Please note that there may be differences in definitions between census classifications and those used for other data collections.