2023 Census data release

These dwelling categories may provide accommodation for individuals who are unable to find more permanent housing. In 2023 there were 15,993 such private dwelling being occupied compared to 10,944 in 2018, an increase of 46 percent.    

There were 1,780,527 households in occupied private dwellings in 2023, an increase of 7.7 percent from the 2018 Census, which had 1,653,792 households in occupied private dwellings. Of particular interest with household data is the number of dwellings by tenure of household (i.e., rented, owner-occupied, or owned by a family trust). In 2023, there were 978,105 households in owner-occupied dwellings and a further 197,112 in dwellings held in a family trust, for a combined total of 1,175,217 owned private dwellings, with the remaining 604,884 households renting. Compared to the 2018 Census this is an increase of 10.1 percent in the number of households in owned dwellings, and a 3.2 percent increase in the number of households in rented dwellings.  

As already noted in a Statistics NZ article, this is the first time since the 1991 Census that the home ownership rate has increased, although it is still a long way below the 73.8 percent ownership rate seen in 1991.

Looking at home ownership at a regional level, the Tasman region had the highest rate at 77.4 percent, followed by the West Coast region at 74.6 percent. Of the major urban areas, Auckland had the lowest home ownership rate at 59.5 percent, while for the Wellington region it was 66.3 percent. The Canterbury region had an ownership rate of 69.6 percent. In addition, only Auckland had less than a one percent increase in the home ownership rate, while the West Coast, Gisborne, and Northland regions had home ownerships rates jump by more than three percent. 

The greatest volume of Census data released comprised data about individuals. This included a range of data variables that was collected for the first time in the 2023 Census, such as current gender of individuals (rather than simply sex at birth, which was previously all that was collected), Rainbow/LGBTIQ+ indicator, and sexual identity. Combining the results from these data variables shows that nationwide, as at the 2023 Census, there were 172,383 individuals aged over 15 who were part of the LGBTIQ+ community in New Zealand. This is about 4.9 percent of the population aged over 15. The inclusion of these questions in the 2023 Census, means that there is now a greater ability to understand the outcomes for this community through the use of Census data.

No surprise is the increase in people born overseas. The data shows that in 2023, 28.8 percent of the New Zealand population was born overseas, up from 27.4 percent in 2018. The average length of time in New Zealand has also increased from 17.8 years in 2018, to 18.6 years in 2023.  

Also interesting is the decrease in the number of people who have been in New Zealand for less than five years, from 316,134 in 2018 to 291,501 in 2023, a drop of 7.8 percent. This could be due to the combination of several factors, for example the effect of the border closures for COVID-19 and the tougher economic conditions that followed the pandemic. It is evident that an increase in migration will underpin some of our future population growth, with fewer and fewer children being born in New Zealand. The average number of children born per female over 15 years has decreased from 1.7 children in 2018 to 1.6 children in 2023.