Statistics and numeric data

Key databases

New Zealand | International | Print resources | Search tips

New Zealand

• New Zealand Community Profile
  Demographic information for the Districts and Cities of New Zealand based on results from the 2001, 2006, 2013 and 2018 Censuses of Population and Dwellings.
• OECD Country statistical profile - New Zealand
• New Zealand in the OECD
  Broad economic and social overview.
• Statistics New Zealand
  Browse for data by topic or use the website tools to create your own tables or graphs online tutorials are available.
  • Business Toolbox
    Industry, markets and customer information.
  • Population
    Births, census, deaths, estimates and projections, life expectancy, migration and guides on how to interpret the data.
  • Statisphere
    Data resources are listed by subject and agency.
  • Long-term data series
    Demographic, social and economic data.
  • Māori
    Statistical information relevant to Māori, including Statistics New Zealand survey of Māori well-being - Te Kupenga
  • Stats NZ data search bot
    An online interactive chat-based search. You can type in your search query and get instant recommended data sources.
  • Data tools and services
    Online interactive data tools and services provided by StatsNZ
• New Zealand Government datasets online (also known as data.govt.nz)
  Directory of publicly-available, non-personal New Zealand Government held datasets. This site does not host data, instead it links to datasets held on other government websites.
• Stats NZ Store House
  Contains Statistics New Zealand's electronic and digitised publications that are no longer on their website. Specific contents include publications from historical census, finding aids for data in Statistics NZ's print publications, infographics, conference papers and reports, questionnaires, research papers and images.
• The Social Report
  Ministry of Social Development.
• Quality of Life
  Ministry of Social Development. Initially covering the six largest cities it has been expanded to include twelve territorial authorities.
• Review of New Zealand Longitudinal Studies
  Overview of the range and quality of New Zealand longitudinal data by the Families Commission.
• figure.nz
  Collaborative website making data about New Zealand visually accessible.

Resources to customise data

• Statistics New Zealand provides specialised research services
• Statistical Consulting Service
  Provided by the University of Auckland Statistics Department on either a fee per service or retainer basis to internal and external clients.
• Centre of Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences (COMPASS)
  University of Auckland.
• New Zealand Social Statistics Network
  University of Auckland.

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International

Websites

• .id
  Suburb-based community profiles of Australia and New Zealand. Results include population, age structure, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, income, qualifications, occupations, employment, unemployment, disability, disadvantage, volunteering, childcare, family structure, household structure, housing tenure, mortgage and rental payments, and the size and type of dwellings.
• Cranet
  Cranfield Network on Comparative Human Resource Management. Contact Erling Rasmussen for access.
• Current Population Survey
  United States Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly survey of about 50,000 households.
• Eurostat
  The leading provider of high quality statistics on Europe. It includes EU policy indicators, population and social conditions, and economy, finance, general and regional statistics.
• UNESCO Institute for Statistics
  Statistical branch of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) delivers comparative data for countries on education, science and technology, culture, and communication.

Economic statistics datasets free on the web

• Atlas of economic complexity
  A research and data visualization tool used to explore global trade dynamics over time and discover new growth opportunities for every country worldwide.
• EconStats
  United States, global economic data and stock market data.
• Eldis
  Links to statistics sites, arranged by topics including education, gender, health, finance, poverty, labour, agriculture, food and nutrition, trade, commodities, and debt.
• International macroeconomic dataset
  From 1971 through 2017 for real (adjusted for inflation) gross domestic product (GDP), population, real exchange rates and other variables for 31 countries and 34 regions.
• Living standards measurement study, World Bank
• Measuring Worth
  Historical data on economic aggregates (e.g., GDP, wages) and calculators for making value comparisons over time (e.g., relative value, purchasing power and exchange rates).
• National accounts main aggregates database
  United Nations annual data for GDP and exchange rates from 1970.
• NationMaster
  Compare and graph countries over a vast array of topics.
• NBER datasets
  United States National Bureau of Economic Research includes: trade, tariff and occupational wages around the world.
• Panel Study of Income Dynamics
  University of Michigan. 
• Penn world tables
  Part of the University of Groningen: purchasing power parity and national income accounts in international prices.
• Data - CISER.
  Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research data.
• World Bank Open Data
• World values surveys
  Information only. Online data access is by subscription. See also the 2005 New Zealand values survey.
• Zanran
  Numerical data search that provides access to Internet statistical data including charts and diagrams.

Data meta sites

• Economic data
  ​Links from Rutgers University Libraries.
• United States Data and Statistics
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Search by country or select Free text search for data.

Data archive centres

• Australian Social Science Data Archive
• CAMSIS
  University of Stirling Cambridge Social Interaction and Stratification Scales project is an internationally comparative assessment of the structures of social interaction and stratification across a number of countries
• CESSDA
  Council of European Social Science Data Archives. Includes North America and Australasia.
• COBRA
  Collection of Biostatistics Research Archives.
• IASSIST
  International Association of Social Science Information Service and Technology.
• UK Data Service
  United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council.

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Print resources

Statistical information can be in either print or electronic form. The University of Auckland Library has a fairly comprehensive collection of statistical data both in print and electronic format. 

Use the Catalogue to search for statistics within the library collection.

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Search tips

• Consider What kind of data?
• Include statistics in a Catalogue or database search, e.g., education New Zealand statistics.
• The print equivalent of electronic publications provides more detailed information on how, for example, data has been calculated or the source of the raw data. Some items are reference only.
• Journal and newspaper articles often include statistics, search a selection of databases for likely articles, e.g.,
  • Index New Zealand
  • NewzText Plus
  • Business Source Premier
  • Factiva
• For business data use BISO to refresh your research skills
• See also Country information for profiles, rankings and rating; Energy information sources, Statistics, Mathematics and Finance.

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New Zealand as a village of 100 people has been released by Statistics NZ to support the 2013 census.

What is a census?

The census in New Zealand is an official count of population and dwellings. It takes place every five years and is carried out by Statistics New Zealand. For further information go to Census, Statistics NZ.

Definitions

• Census
  From the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
• Census geography
  From the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography.

Key resources

• Census data
  Statistics New Zealand Census website including 2018 Census data as it becomes available.
• New Zealand Community Profile
  Provides demographic information for the New Zealand districts and cities based on results from the census taken in 2006 and 2001. 2013 data is being added as it becomes available.
• StatsMaps
  Statistics New Zealand dynamic map and chart display for the 2013 census data.
• Census data by Council
• 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings
  Complete data available as downloadable Excel spreadsheets.
• 2006 Census Meshblock Data
  May be integrated with StreetLink which concords streets and areas to larger administrative areas; or mapping systems using Geographic boundary viewer.

Further information

• Use the Catalogue to search for Census print publications in the library collection.
• Early census data
• In-depth statistical data

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Key resources | Collected works on New Zealand | Census from 1851

Key resources

• Blue book of statistics, 1840-54
  Microfilm 89/6-8. Microtexts Room, Level G, General Library.
• Blue books 1840-1855
  Digitised by Archives New Zealand.
• Statistics of New Zealand for the Crown Colony period 1840-1852
  Digitised by the University of Auckland Library.
• Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand for the year...
  Covers 1853-1920. From 1921 onwards a series of mostly annual subject reports have been produced.
• Monthly abstract of statistics
  Published 1917-1989, and then 1990-2010 as Key Statistics.
• Official handbook of New Zealand
  For the years 1875, 1889, 1890 and 1892.
• Yearbook collection
  1893 onwards. Digitised by Statistics New Zealand. Print version New Zealand Official Yearbook. The first "official yearbook" was published for 1893 and appeared in print until 2012. Combined volumes are: 1921/22; 1947/49; 1951/52. No yearbooks were published in 1991, 1999, 2001, 2003 or 2005.
• Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR)
  Published annually from 1858. The Appendices 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". The early volumes in particular include statistical data.
• Questions for written answer
  New Zealand Parliament. The Replies can be an informative source of statistical data.
• Statistical publications 1840-2000
  A comprehensive overview of more than 150 years of statistical publications.
• Stats NZ Store House
  Statistics New Zealand's electronic and digitised publications that are no longer on their website. Specific contents include publications from historical census, finding aids for data in Statistics NZ's print publications, infographics, conference papers and reports, questionnaires, research papers and images.

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Collected works on New Zealand

• Bloomfield, G.T. (1984). New Zealand, a handbook of historical statistics. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall.
• Briggs, P. (2003). Looking at the numbers: A view of New Zealand's economic history. Wellington: New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.
• Dalziel P. & Lattimore, R. The New Zealand macroeconomy: A briefing on the reforms and their legacy. Auckland: Oxford University Press.
  All editions have a useful data appendix with mostly annual data from 1960 onwards. There is some quarterly data from 1980 onwards.
• McKinnon M. (Ed.), (1997). Bateman New Zealand historical atlas = Ko papatuanuku e takoto nei. Auckland: D. Bateman in association with Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs.
• Pool, D. Ian. (1991). Te iwi Maori: A New Zealand population, past, present & projected. Auckland: Auckland University Press.
• Thorns, D. C. & Sedgwick, C.P. (1997). Understanding Aotearoa/New Zealand: Historical statistics. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

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Census from 1851

• 1851: first census. Results: Statistics of New Zealand for the Crown Colony period 1840-1852
• 1858, 1861, 1864, 1867. Results: Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand...
• 1858: first Māori general census. Results: Observations on the state of the aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand
• 1871 onwards: Individual publications. Print volumes are in the General Library, Level M at S2/NZ CEN
  1871, 1874, 1878, 1881, then 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 Māori census data published as an appendix to the main census tables.
• 1951 onwards the Māori and non-Māori census was combined.
• 1996, 2001, 2006, 2013 and 2018 data online at Statistics New Zealand's website.

See also New Zealand history

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Statistical data packages

Some  data packages are available to the University of Auckland researchers under the CONZUL agreement between Statistics NZ and NZ Universities.

Data packages available online:

• Business Demography
• Census of Population and Dwellings
• Disability Statistics
• International travel and migration
• New Zealand income survey super SURF
• Student debt, income, and repayments
• Time use survey 2009/10 supplementary tables
• Vital statistics: births and deaths

Data packages available on request:

• Household economic survey
• Household labour force survey
• New Zealand income survey supplement

Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs)

CURFs are unit record data that are modified to protect the confidentiality of respondents while maintaining the integrity of the data. To request CURFs access, please follow the instructions on the Statistics NZ’s CURFs page.

Customised data tables

Statistics NZ can create customised data tables for a fee. Under the CONZUL agreement, our University has a set of allocated prepaid data hours to assist our researchers to request customised data tables from Statistics NZ. The number of prepaid data hours is limited. The maximum number of hours that can be allocated to a single request is 10 hours. For more information, please contact the University of Auckland Contact Officer.

Integrated Data Infrastructure

Statistics New Zealand's Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) is a linked longitudinal dataset, which includes economic, education, justice, health and safety, migration, families and households, tenancy, and business data. IDI for researchers provides information on data and metadata held in the IDI.

Note: IDI data access is not a part of the CONZUL agreement. Researchers need to fund the IDI access. Researchers who wish to access the IDI need to liaise with Statistics NZ directly. For more information on access and pricing please see Statistics NZ's Data Lab page or contact access2microdata@stats.govt.nz.

Support

• Referencing
  Access a range of tools and support material to assist your referencing work.

Examples

• Quick©ite
  Use this interactive tool to view examples of references.
  Covers a range of styles used at the University of Auckland. Includes an example for statistics and numeric data.