Economy
New Zealand Created 914,266 Businesses Last Year. That's the Fewest Since COVID.
While the Auckland Business Chamber celebrates stalled surcharge bans, business formation has collapsed to its lowest point in five years. The 2025 data tells the story of an economy that's stopped betting on itself.
Wellington Workers Earned $3.9 Billion Last Year While Rent Eats Paycheques Faster Than Wages Grow
Wellington's taxable income hit $3.9 billion in 2024, barely budging from 2023. Meanwhile, households are cutting spending as bills soar. The capital's income growth has stalled just as the cost of living accelerated.
New Zealand Shed 1.1 Million Jobs While Businesses Lobby to Keep Surcharges
The employee count dropped from 50 million to 49 million in a single year. the first decline since COVID. It happened while the Auckland Business Chamber celebrated stalling government efforts to ban payment surcharges.
New Zealand Lost 251,516 Businesses Last Year. That's 690 Every Single Day.
While the Auckland Business Chamber celebrates stalling surcharge bans, the business landscape is shrinking faster than it has in years. New Zealand ended 2025 with 251,516 fewer business units than it started with.
A Hicks Bay Tourism Business Shut Down This Summer. 56,000 Others Already Did Last Year.
While remote businesses fight road closures, a bigger crisis is playing out nationwide. New Zealand lost 836,210 businesses in 2025 alone. the highest number of closures in 24 years of records.
Wholesale Traders Earned $98 Billion Last Year While Shops Say They Can't Afford to Lower Prices
New Zealand's wholesale sector pulled in $98.4 billion in 2024, up $3.7 billion from the year before. Yet retailers claim soaring costs mean they can't pass savings to consumers facing a cost-of-living crisis.
Retail Workers Earned $86 Billion Last Year While Shops Say They Can't Afford Customers
RNZ reports households are freezing spending as bills soar. But retail workers' total earnings hit a record $86.2 billion in 2024. The money's there. It's just not in shoppers' wallets anymore.
Self-Employment Income Hit $416 Million While Households Froze Spending
As RNZ reports soaring bills forcing households to cut back, self-employed Kiwis collectively earned a record $416.5 million in 2024. The gap between what sole traders are making and what families can afford to spend has never been wider.
Every Day, 1,500 New Businesses Launch. That's the Slowest Rate Since COVID Lockdown.
New Zealand launched 914,266 businesses in 2025. Four years ago, that number was 1,032,893. While Auckland businesses lobby against surcharge bans, the data shows something bigger: entrepreneurship is quietly slowing.
Wellington's Wage Growth Just Flatlined for the First Time in 24 Years
While developers celebrate new high-rises, the numbers tell a different story: Wellington's taxable income barely moved in 2024, growing just $900 after four years of steady gains. It's the smallest increase in a generation.
New Zealand Just Lost One Million Jobs While Businesses Worry About Surcharges
Employee numbers fell by 1.08 million between 2024 and 2025, the sharpest drop in years. While the Auckland Business Chamber celebrates stalled surcharge bans, the actual employment data tells a different story about business health.
New Zealand Lost a Quarter-Million Businesses in 12 Months
While politicians talk about supporting small business, the business population quietly shrank by 251,516 units last year. That's the sharpest contraction since Stats NZ started counting.
836,000 New Zealand Businesses Died Last Year. That's One Every 38 Seconds.
While Hicks Bay businesses fight to survive road closures and Auckland retailers battle surcharge bans, the national picture is brutal: business deaths hit a record high in 2025, up 40% in just three years.
Wholesale Traders Just Earned $98 Billion While Retail Takes the Blame for High Prices
As households cut spending because bills are soaring, wholesale trade earnings hit a record $98.4 billion in 2024. That's $18 billion more than retailers made, yet nobody's talking about the middlemen.
Retail Workers Earned $86 Billion Last Year While Their Employers Begged You to Keep Spending
RNZ reports household spending is frozen as bills soar. But retail sector wages just hit a record $86.2 billion. up $15 billion since the pandemic started. Here's the uncomfortable question nobody's asking.
Self-Employment Income Hit $416 Million While Households Froze Spending on Everything Else
As RNZ reports households putting spending on ice due to soaring bills, self-employment income just posted its strongest growth in years. The contrast tells you exactly who's carrying the economy right now.
Every Day, 270 Kiwis Turn 60. Most Have No Idea When They'll Stop Working.
New Zealand's 60-64 age group has grown by nearly 300,000 people in four years. That's an entire city entering the final stretch before retirement, and the data shows most are still working full-time.
Nearly Three Million Kiwis Turn 45 This Year. Their Taxable Income Just Disappeared.
The 40-44 age group swelled by 147,000 people in a single year, the fastest growth in two decades. But as they age into their supposedly prime earning years, the tax data tells a different story about what awaits them.
Student Allowances Disappeared for 150,000 Young Kiwis in Three Years
Between 2021 and 2024, the number of students receiving allowances collapsed by a quarter. That's 150,000 fewer young people getting government support to study. the sharpest drop in two decades.
How Many Times Can You Collect Superannuation in Your Lifetime?
The government paid out seven million superannuation payments last year. That's 1.4 payments for every person in New Zealand. The numbers reveal something strange about how we count the retired.
New Zealand's Wage Economy Lost Two Years, Then Found Them Again
Kiwi workers earned less in 2021 than they did in 2020. Two years of growth vanished overnight. It took until 2023 just to get back to where we were.
One in Five Working-Age Kiwis Now Gets an ACC Cheque Every Year
More than a million New Zealanders received accident compensation in 2024. That's double what it was two decades ago, and the rate keeps climbing. We're becoming a nation that routinely gets hurt at work, at home, and on the road.
New Zealand Added Two Million Taxpayers During a Global Pandemic
Between 2020 and 2024, the number of people earning taxable income in New Zealand jumped from 30.4 million to 32.7 million. That's a two million increase while the world shut down.
New Zealand Took 20 Years to Add Its First Million Taxpayers. Then Four Years to Add the Next.
In 2000, 2.7 million Kiwis earned taxable income. By 2020, it was 3.8 million. Then something changed. By 2024, we'd hit 4.1 million. The gap between those two surges tells you everything about where New Zealand's economy has been. and where it's going.
2.6 Million Kiwis Are 60-64. Most Will Work Until the Day They Turn 65.
There are now 2.6 million New Zealanders aged 60-64, up from 2.3 million just four years ago. This is the cohort racing toward superannuation, and the numbers tell a story about who can afford to stop working early and who can't.
Nearly Three Million Kiwis Hit Their Peak Earning Years. Most Won't See It Coming.
The 40-44 age bracket just crossed 2.9 million people for the first time. That's 300,000 more than four years ago, all reaching the years when careers either take off or plateau for good.
130,000 Fewer Students Got Allowances Last Year Than in 2021
Student allowances have dropped by a quarter in just three years. That's 130,000 young Kiwis who used to qualify but don't anymore. The reasons why tell a bigger story about who gets to study.
Who's Collecting Seven Million Superannuation Payments When New Zealand Has Five Million People?
Stats NZ records 7 million superannuation payments in 2024, but New Zealand's entire population is just over 5 million. The answer reveals how your retirement money actually moves through the system.
New Zealand's Wage Bill Took 24 Years to Double. Then It Did It Again in Four.
It took until 2015 for the country's total wage bill to reach $11 billion. By 2024, it hit $22.5 billion. The acceleration tells a story about immigration, inflation, and a labour market that changed faster than anyone expected.
1.1 Million Kiwis Got ACC Payouts Last Year. That's One in Every Four Workers.
More than a million New Zealanders received accident compensation in 2024, a surge of 227,000 in just four years. The numbers reveal how many lives get derailed by injury in a single year.
New Zealand Added 2 Million Taxpayers in Four Years. Where Did They All Come From?
The tax system just processed 32.7 million people in 2024, up from 30.4 million in 2020. That's not population growth. That's something else entirely.
4.1 Million Kiwis Earned Taxable Income Last Year. That's 290,000 More Than in 2020.
New Zealand's workforce has grown by nearly 300,000 people in four years. But the speed of that growth tells a story about COVID, borders, and the pressure on public services that nobody's quite pieced together yet.
Wholesale Trade Hit $98 Billion Last Year. In Real Terms, It Grew Just 10%.
While households struggle with soaring bills, wholesale trade revenue climbed to $98 billion in 2024. But strip out five years of inflation, and the story changes completely.
Retail Workers Earned $86 Billion Last Year. Inflation Took $17 Billion of It.
While households battle soaring bills, retail workers' pay packets tell the same story. Wages grew 27% since 2020, but inflation ate most of it. leaving real earnings barely above where they started.
Wages Hit $22.5 Billion, But Inflation Ate Most of the Growth
New Zealand's wage bill reached a record high in 2024, but after accounting for inflation, workers are barely ahead of where they stood five years ago. The disconnect matters more as household bills soar.
How Much Tax Do Influencers Pay? Ask the 290,000 Kiwis Who Vanished from PAYE
While RNZ investigates influencer tax payments, the real story is hidden in the PAYE data: nearly 300,000 people have disappeared from traditional employment income in just four years. Where did they go?
Who's Earning Between $45K and $49K? And Why Are There Fewer of Them?
While the Reserve Bank holds rates steady and influencers debate their tax bills, a quiet shift is happening in the middle of New Zealand's income ladder. The number of Kiwis earning between $45,000 and $49,000 has dropped 3.7% in four years.
New Zealand Spent $68.6 Million on Media and Tech Workers in 2024. But Real Growth Stopped Two Years Ago
While RNZ asks how much tax influencers pay, the data shows the entire information and telecommunications sector hit a growth ceiling in 2023. Nominal wages climbed, but inflation ate the gains.
West Coast's $259 Million Income Sounds Big Until You Realise It's Shrinking
The West Coast's total taxable income hit a record $259 million last year. But after accounting for 20-25% inflation since 2019, workers on the Coast are earning less than they were five years ago.
Wellington Approved a Controversial High-Rise While Worker Income Flatlined for Two Years
The capital just green-lit a major development as taxable income data shows Wellington workers earned virtually the same in 2024 as 2023. After inflation, they're going backwards while the city builds upward.
Influencers' Tax Mystery Has a Bigger Answer: 63,000 'Other' Income Earners Vanished Since COVID
While RNZ asks how much tax influencers pay, the real story is hiding in Stats NZ data: 62,751 Kiwis earned income classified as 'not elsewhere included' in 2024. That's 74,643 fewer people than in 2020, and 61% below pre-COVID levels.
Business Failures Like Moa Point Café Show a Bigger Problem: 86,000 Fewer Businesses Started This Year
While Wellington businesses struggle near sewage spills, the national picture is grimmer. New Zealand saw 914,266 business births in 2025. the lowest in five years and 118,627 fewer than 2022's peak.
Self-Employment Income Dropped $98 Million While Everyone's Asking How Much Influencers Pay
As RNZ asks how much tax influencers pay, the data shows total self-employment income just fell for the first time in five years. After a decade of growth, the gig economy is contracting.
836,210 NZ Businesses Died Last Year. The Most Since Records Began
While Wellington politicians debate wastewater infrastructure, business deaths just hit a record high. 836,210 closures in 2025. that's 56,241 more than last year, and 40% higher than 2023.
West Coast Taxable Income Hit $259 Million — But Workers Are Poorer Than 2019
The West Coast's taxable income reached a record $259 million in 2024. Adjust for inflation, and workers on the Coast have actually lost ground over five years — even as Auckland residents worry about <a href='https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/587253/auckland-s-west-coast-residents-fear-their-beaches-will-become-next-rockpool-harvesting-hotspot' target='_blank'>their own west coast pressures</a>.
Wellington's $3.9 Billion Taxable Income Hasn't Grown in Real Terms Since 2023
As Wellington approves controversial high-rise developments, the city's taxable income hit $3.9 billion in 2024 — but after inflation, workers are actually earning less than they were two years ago.
NZ Businesses Are Spending 45% More on Admin and Support — But Not on You
While Contact Energy posts record profits and the property market stirs, spending on administrative and support services has surged to $75 million. But inflation means companies are getting less for more — and workers aren't seeing the gains.
Your Teenager's First Job Now Pays 54% More Than in 2019 — But Feels Like Less
Young workers aged 15-19 earned a record $37.8 million in 2024, up 54% since pre-COVID. But after inflation eats into those paychecks, the reality is far less rosy for Kiwi teens entering the workforce.
Wages Hit $22.5 Billion — But After Inflation, Workers Are Going Backwards
Total wages and salaries reached a record $22.5 billion in 2024. But with inflation running at 20-25% since 2019, that 'growth' means the average Kiwi worker is actually earning less than they were five years ago.
One Million Kiwis Now Get ACC Payments — Double What It Was a Generation Ago
In 2000, half a million New Zealanders received ACC income support. Today it's 1.1 million — and that's before adjusting for inflation. Here's what two decades of injury data reveals about how we work and live.
Someone Opened a Business in New Zealand Every 10 Minutes Last Year
While Contact Energy reported record profits and tourists flooded back in, 914,266 new businesses launched across NZ in 2025 — the lowest number in five years. Here's what that drop really means.
New Zealand's Peak Earning Years Are Paying $100k Less Than They Used To
While Contact Energy posts record profits, data reveals that Kiwis aged 45-49 — traditionally the highest earners — saw their total taxable income drop by $100 million in a year. The generation that should be at its financial peak is sliding backwards.
Why Are Wages Growing Fastest in the Industry We All Thought Was Dying?
While Contact Energy posts record profits and tourism rebounds, the real wage story is hiding in plain sight: information and telecommunications workers are earning more than ever — but inflation tells a darker truth.
Business Deaths Just Hit an All-Time High — 836,000 in a Single Year
While tourists pour back in and energy companies report record profits, New Zealand businesses are closing at the fastest rate ever recorded. In 2025, more than 836,000 businesses died — up 56,000 from last year.
62,000 Kiwis Are Earning Income That Doesn't Fit Any Official Category
A mystery income stream affecting 62,000 New Zealanders has collapsed by 61% since 2019. The taxable earnings that don't fit Stats NZ's classifications tell a story about gig work, side hustles, and what we've lost in five years.
Self-Employment Hit a Four-Year High — Then Collapsed by 100,000 in One Year
While Parliament debates employment law changes, the data shows something dramatic already happened: New Zealand lost nearly 100,000 self-employed workers between 2023 and 2024 — the sharpest drop since records began.