• Statisphere
  'New Zealand's official statistics portal'. Data resources are listed by subject and by agency
  


• Population and sustainable development website combining the expertise of Statistics New Zealand, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Labour. An excellent overview of population data from how to interpret the data through to links to data resources
  
  
• Statistics New Zealand 
  Free data by topic including 2006 census data; table builder; explanations of methodologies and surveys; links to other data resources. Notable print publications not available on the website are:
  • The New Zealand official yearbook  [S2/NZ STAy]
  • Key statistics  [S2/NZ STAm] (except for some of the articles)
  • International visitor arrivals [S2/NZ TOUm]
    Short online tutorials are available for Statistics New Zealand website information for such resources as table builder, accommodation, overseas visitor arrival and household economic survey and census information

  Long term data series
  'The long-term data series have been collected together by staff at Treasury to provide a general reference source of information on demographic, social and economic trends in New Zealand. The series cover varying periods of time between 1840 and 2004. They are made available as downloadable Excel spreadsheets (Excel 2002 format), and each file contains one data worksheet and one documentation worksheet
   

• OECD statistical profile of New Zealand
  'More than 100 indicators covering a wide range of areas: economy, agriculture, education, energy, environment, foreign aid, health and quality of life, industry, information and communications, population/labour force, trade and investment, taxation, public expenditure and R&D.To compare New Zealand with other OECD countries, click on the table and chart icons at the end of each row to obtain the comparative data in Excel format'

• New Zealand in the OECD
  From Statistics New Zealand. The 'story of who New Zealanders are, within the context of other OECD countries. It provides an overview of a range of key economic and social indicators which are of broad general interest'
  
  
• Ministry of Social Development
  The Social Report has been an annual publication from 2001 onwards. It gives a 'big picture' view and has data on health, knowledge and skills, safety and security, paid work, human rights, culture and identity, economic standard of living, social connectedness and the environment
  
  
• Quality of Life
  'The Quality of Life Project was established in 1999 to provide social, economic and environmental indicators of quality of life in New Zealand'. Initially covering the six largest cities, coverage since 2004, has been expanded to include twelve territorial authorities. Topics include people, knowledge and skills,  standard of living, economic development, housing, health, natural environment, built environment, safety, social connectedness, and civil and political rights
  
  
• Review of New Zealand Longitudinal Studies [pdf 896 kb]
  The Families Commission 'report provides an overview of the range and quality of New Zealand longitudinal data' as of May 2005. No data is provided

Databases 

• Datastream
  Specialist database with time series data for the NZX (New Zealand Exchange Limited), equities, some interest rate data such as Libor rates for New Zealand, plus economic data sourced mainly from Statistics New Zealand.  Access is restricted to University of Auckland teaching staff and postgraduate students enrolled in Honours, Masters or a PhD, wanting data
   
• Global Market Information Database
  This database from Euromonitor will give data on consumer products as well as on a number of socioeconomic topics. The data is annual. It is a useful database for comparing New Zealand with other countries 
   
• INFOS  
  INFOS (Information network for official statistics) is Statistics New Zealand's database of time series data. The New Zealand Time Series (NZTS) database is a subset of the INFOS database. Content is much the same as NZTS but some series are more detailed. Access is restricted to University of Auckland teaching staff and postgraduate students enrolled in Honours, Masters or a PhD, wanting data for teaching or research. Note: INFOS data is in the process of being transferred to a new database Infoshare, which provides access to a range of time-series data such as: economic information (e.g. price indexes and production figures). For more information on the transfer process, please see the INFOS connect page or the Statistics NZ website.

• International Financial Statistics
  This database is produced by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) .  The focus is on economic data. There is usually a good time series of annual, quarterly and monthly data. Again, good to use if you want to compare New Zealand with other countries
   
• New Zealand television audience measurement online ratings report 
  A numeric estimate of the television viewing audience collected from a representative sample of households.   Nielsen Media Research Television Ratings represent the industry currency for television audience measurement in New Zealand with a fully national PeopleMeter panel of 500 households. This equates to approximately 1200 people 5 years and over
   
• New Zealand Time Series (NZTS)
  NZTS is a resource to use if a time series of data is required. The data is mostly from Statistics New Zealand and ranges from economic data, exports, government expenditure, demographic data (including tourist numbers) and labour force data through to building consents, retail trade and the information technology survey. This however is not the database to use if you are wanting data on consumer products (ice cream, organics, domestic electrical appliances). There is some exchange rate and interest rate data from the Reserve Bank. There are no definitions or explanations of methodologies (except in a few very brief instances)
   
• NZSTATS : New Zealand Statistics Sources
  This database provides access to internet, database and print sources for data specifically about New Zealand. Web links are arranged by subject
   
• OFFSTATS : Official Statistics on the Web
  This database provides access to free statistics from official sources on the web. Web links are arranged by country, region or subject
   
• SourceOECD
  Build your own tables using the Statistics component, or download the full text of publications. Wide ranging in the topics covered (including education) but data for New Zealand can be patchy
   
• TNS regional reports
  TNS (Taylor Nelson Sofres) a business research company who compiles 40 regional reports for New Zealand covering demographics, business activity, economic conditions
   
• UN Common database
  Tables of comparable data drawn from a variety of official sources covering a variety of social, demographic and economic topics
   
• Working papers (particularly Treasury working papers) and journal and newspaper articles are often good sources for or provide leads to statistical data. In particular, newspaper articles often report new findings and survey results. For journal and newspaper articles use databases such as NewzText and  Index New Zealand
   
• World Development Indicators
  This database is produced by the World Bank. The data is annual with some series beginning in 1960. It is a useful database to compare New Zealand with other countries. Topics range from economic and demographic through to the environment and land use. The database includes definitions

Library catalogue 

Most print publications from Statistics New Zealand, plus a selection of print publications from other Government sources, are kept in the Statistics Collection on Level M in the General Library. Books in this Collection have a "Not to be borrowed" status. Other books with statistical information (including appendices with statistical data) will have a Dewey classification and be shelved in the general collections. All book titles are listed on Voyager

Historical: 1840-1852

• Blue book of statistics, 1840-54
  Microfilm 89/6-8 [Microtext room, Level G]. Annual books. Note that the books for 1845 and 1846 have been omitted.
  
  
• Blue books 1840 to 1855 Archives New Zealand have made images available of each page.
  
  
• Statistics of New Zealand for the Crown Colony period 1840-1852. [S2/NZ STAr]

Historical: 1853 onwards

Print statistics for New Zealand are mostly shelved in the Statistics Collection on Level M in the General Library. The Collection is 'not to be borrowed'. New Zealand material begins with the call number S2/NZ and is then subdivided into topics eg S2/NZ AGR for agriculture, S2/NZ EDU for education, S2/NZ HEA for health, S2/NZ LAB for labour force, S2/NZ TOU for tourism etc

• Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand... [S2/NZ STAs] 
  Covers the time from 1853 to 1920. From 1921 onwards series of mostly annual subject reports have been produced

• Monthly abstract of statistics [S2/NZ STAm]
  Library has 1917 onwards. The title changed to Key Statistics in 1989
  
  
• Official handbook of New Zealand 
  1875, 1883, 1999 facsim of 1875 [Special Collections: NZ Glass Case. 919.5 V87]
  1892 [S2/NZ STAy]
  
  
• New Zealand Official Yearbook [S2/NZ STAy]
  The first "official yearbook" was published for 1893 and published annually until 2000, after which it is published every second year. The exceptions are:
          combined volumes: 1921/22; 1947/49; 1951/52
          none published: 1991; 1999; 2001; 2003; 2005
  
  
• Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 1858- [NZP 328.95 N56a].
  The AJHRs are published annually and are a record of papers tabled in Parliament including annual reports of government departments. Papers in the AJHRs are classified under a system of “shoulder numbers” for example the annual report of the Department of Labour has a shoulder number G1. Indexes are at the end of each bound volume. The early volumes in particular include statistical data
  
  
• Questions for written answers (New Zealand Parliament)
  The Replies can be an informative source of statistical data

Collected works 

There are several books which have collected together a range of historical statistics over a variety of topics. These include:

• Bloomfield, G.T. (1984). New Zealand, a handbook of historical statistics. Boston, Mass. : G.K. Hall,
  [NZP 319.95 B65;  S2/NZ STAh].
  Chapters cover Land base; Population; Social conditions; Labour force; Production; Transport; Overseas trade; State sector; Finance
  
  

• Briggs, Phil. (2003). Looking at the numbers : a view of New Zealand's economic history. Wellington, N.Z. : New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER). [NZP 330 B85]. The economic data series tables are on the NZIER website. Contents include population, GDP, prices, trade, and the labour market
  
  

• Dalziel P. and R. Lattimore. (2004). The New Zealand macroeconomy: A briefing on the reforms and their legacy. 5th ed. Oxford University Press. [NZP 330.995 D15  + Short Loan 330.995 D15 ].]
  All editions have a useful Data Appendix with mostly annual data from 1960 onwards for a variety of mostly economic data. There is some quarterly data from 1980 onwards
  
  

• McKinnon M. ed. (1997). Bateman New Zealand historical atlas = Ko papatuanuku e takoto nei. Auckland, N.Z. : D. Bateman in association with Historical Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs. [NZP 911.95M15 s1]

• Maddison, Angus (2003). The world economy : historical statistics. Paris, France : Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Print edition at General Library 330.9 M17w. This has annual population data plus annual data for GDP and GDP per capita in 1990 Geary Khamis dollars from 1500-2001
  
  
• Mitchell, B.R. (2003). International historical statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania, 1750-2000. 4th ed. Houndmills, Basingstokes, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan. [S3 STAh AFR].  Variety of topics covered with a variety of start dates. Annual data. Includes population, labour force, agriculture, industry, external trade, transport and communications, finance, prices, education and national accounts. There is no exchange rate data
  
  
• Pool, D. Ian. (1991).  Te iwi Maori : a New Zealand population, past, present & projected. Auckland, N.Z. : Auckland University Press. [NZP 304.6268999442 P82]
  
  
• Thorns, David C. and Charles P. Sedgwick. (1997). Understanding Aotearoa/New Zealand: Historical statistics. Palmerston North, N.Z. : Dunmore Press. [NZP 319.5 T51; S2/NZ STAhu].
  Chapters cover:  Population data; Economic data; State revenue and expenditure; Social indicators; Politics and the state

Census of Population and Dwellings  

• 1851: first census. Results: Statistics of New Zealand for the Crown Colony period 1840-1852. [S2/NZ STAr]
• 1858, 1861, 1864, 1867. Results: Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand... [S2/NZ STAs] 
• 1858: first Maori general census
  Fenton, F.D. Observations on the state of the aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand
• 1871 onwards: Individual publications. Print volumes are shelved on Level M at S2/NZ CEN
• 1871, 1874, 1878, 1881, 5 yearly to 1926, (1931 no census because of the Depression), 1936, (1941 census postponed because of war), 1945, 1951, and (5 yearly since 1951)
• 1874-1926 Maori census data published as an appendix to the main census tables 
  1951 onwards, the Maori and non-Maori census times combined
• 1996, 2001, 2006 data online at Statistics New Zealand's website

Trade data  

The following are a selection of some of the main resources to use.  Additional resources are listed on the Trade data page

• Exports and imports data [website]
  Table builder data from Statistics New Zealand. Annual data from 2001 onwards including commodity (2 digit classification level) by country of origin/destination

• Exports and imports [website]
  From Statistics New Zealand. Broad level. Includes Overseas Trade Indexes; Overseas Cargo statistics and Overseas Merchandise Trade
  
  
• New Zealand Time Series [database]
  Monthly data for imports by origin, exports by destination, the value of imports/exports of major commodities, and the volume of principal imports and exports
  
  
• New Zealand Official Yearbook [S2/NZ STAy]
  Basic overview information
  
  
• INFOS [database]
  Statistics New Zealand data on New Zealand's trade by detailed commodity by partner country. Data is from 1988 onwards for detailed commodity data. Prior to 1988 use the print resources shelved on Level M at S2/NZ TRA or see the Comtrade database. INFOS database is being replaced by Infoshare: which contains time series data including: economic information, eg price indexes and production figures; wholesale and retail trade information; exports and imports data; and building consents data.

• Comtrade [database]
  From the UN, this database is a matrix of bilateral trade by commodity for most countries. Data is annual from 1962 onwards, where available. There are some gaps in the 1970s for New Zealand data.
  
  
• Source OECD [database]
  From the Statistics package data is under ITCS International Trade by Commodities. Annual statistical data on imports and exports by commodities and by partner countries in OECD countries and selected non OECD countries including China, Hong Kong, and Chinese Taipei. Quantities and US$ values. SITC Revision 2 data from 1961, SITC Revision 3 data from 1990, Harmonised System data from 1990, and Harmonised System 1996 from 1996 onwards