2023 Census population, dwelling, and housing highlights

2023 Census population, dwelling, and housing highlights provides numbers and percentages of people and dwellings, covering topics such as population growth, diversity, unpaid activities, travel to work, education, smoking, and housing, for New Zealand and its geographic areas.

IwiNumber of people
Ngāpuhi184470
Ngāti Porou102480
Ngāi Tahu / Kāi Tahu84969
Ngāti Maniapoto56856
Tūhoe51039
Ngāti Tūwharetoa (ki Taupō)48960
Waikato47664
Te Rarawa30213
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa29187
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga27984

Unpaid activities

Most New Zealand adults engage in unpaid activities

The census usually resident adult population (15 years and over) were asked about their unpaid activities over the four weeks before they completed the census.

  • Household tasks were the most common unpaid activity, undertaken by almost 3 million people (2,903,706 or 85.9 percent).
  • Almost a million people (956,088 or 28.3 percent) were responsible for childcare at home.
  • More than 400,000 people (415,380 people or 12.3 percent) said they looked after a child not belonging to their own household.
  • Around a quarter of a million people (264,867 people, 7.8 percent of the population) cared for a household member who was ill or had a disability.

Almost half a million people do voluntary work

Unpaid activities included other help or voluntary work carried out for or through any organisation, group, or marae in the four weeks prior to census.

  • Nearly half a million people (451,824 or 13.4 percent) did other unpaid help or voluntary work. This was a decrease of 4.6 percent (down 21,864 people) compared with 2018.
  • Voluntary work decreased in every region between 2018 and 2023, except in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, which had been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle around the time of 2023 Census. These two cyclone-affected regions also had the highest rates of volunteering in 2023. In Gisborne, 22.2 percent of the population did voluntary work, up slightly from 20.0 percent in 2018. In Hawke’s Bay, 21.4 percent of the population undertook voluntary work compared with 15.6 percent in 2018.

Travel to work and education

Around 1 in 6 workers mostly work from home

The number of people mostly working from home increased by almost 60 percent between 2018 and 2023.

  • In 2023, people who worked mostly from home made up 17.7 percent (464,130 people) of the employed census usually resident adult population (15 years and over) compared with 11.9 percent (291,234 people) in 2018.
  • Wellington and Auckland regions had the highest growth since 2018 in people who mostly worked from home, with the number in both regions more than doubling. In 2023, 158,658 people mostly worked from home in the Auckland region, up from 72,099 people in 2018, while Wellington went from 24,909 people to 56,016 people.
Region201320182023
Tasman region14.118.320.8
Northland region14.217.220.7
West Coast region11.220.319.3
Wellington region6.49.019.0
Taranaki region11.317.418.8
Waikato region11.715.118.5
Auckland region7.18.718.2
Bay of Plenty region10.014.117.3
Southland region12.217.317.0
Marlborough region12.115.716.7
Otago region9.314.316.7
Manawatū-Whanganui region9.713.916.4
Gisborne region9.915.116.3
Hawke’s Bay region9.413.715.8
Canterbury region8.812.215.6
Nelson region7.612.214.8

More data

Aotearoa Data Explorer provides access and the ability to customise 2023 Census data tables, and compare data against previous censuses.

How to use Aotearoa Data Explorer contains video tutorials and a user guide.

Definitions and metadata

Explore by concept – DataInfo+ provides information about methods, and related metadata.

2023 Census of Population and Dwellings – Information by Concepts (Published) – DataInfo+ provides information about the variables and their quality.

Technical enquiries

Tom Forrest
04 931 4600
[email protected]

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