Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand, branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats NZ produces censuses and surveys.
Organisation
The organisation's staff includes statisticians, mathematicians, computer science specialists, accountants, economists, demographers, sociologists, geographers, social psychologists, and marketers.Stats NZ is divided into seven organisational subgroups, each managed by a Deputy Government Statistician:
- Macro-economic and Environment Statistics studies prices, and national accounts, develops macro-economic statistics, does government and international accounts, and ANZSIC 06 implementation
- Social and Population Statistics studies population, social conditions, standard of living, and census, and has a census planning manager as well as statisticians helping to develop new social statistics measures.
- Standards and Methods studies statistical methods, statistical education, and research, solutions and capabilities, information management, and develops new methodologies.
- Collections and Dissemination services clients. There is one general manager in Christchurch and one in Auckland. It develops products and services and manages publishing and customer services.
- Organisation Direction maintains contacts with key government officials, does internal audits and business planning, manages international relations and the Official Statistics System, and advises on Māori affairs.
- Industry and Labour Statistics studies business indicators, finance and performance, agriculture, energy and work knowledge and skills.
- Organisation Development focuses on services for the agency itself, including information technology management, quality assurance, application development and support, finances, corporate support, and human resources.
Responsibilities and activities
The department conducts the New Zealand census every five years. The census is officially done on one day. The most recent released census was in 2018. The count of usual residents from the 2018 census was 4,699,755. they lived in 1,664,313 occupied dwellings; their median age was 37.4 years ; 775,836 identified themselves as "Māori" ; people had a median income of $31,800. This is a main source of information, and data collected from this census is often used for further purposes within the department as well as serving as benchmark information for numerous reports and surveys. For example, the census asks about the main means of travel to work, but by combining this with data from transport surveys, the department can issue detailed reports such as "Commuting Patterns in New Zealand: 1996–2006", with specific inferences such as "Over half of people who walked or jogged to work lived within 2km of their workplace." This information is helpful for business purposes, government decision-making, media purposes, foreign policy, journalism, public information, planning, and for many other uses. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank of New Zealand uses statistics from this agency about prices and wages to help develop economic indicators, exchange rate information, and the official cash rate.The department supplies a wide variety of information. It reports on labour costs, incomes, civil unions and marriages, employment, electronic card transactions, food prices, retail trade, births and deaths, prices of capital goods, overseas trade, screen industry, international visitor arrivals, overseas merchandise, agriculture and fish stocks, water resources, building consents, electronic card transactions, English language providers, wholesale trade, local authority information, balance of payments data, manufacturing surveys, commuting patterns, mapping trends, culture and identity statistics, housing trends, work stoppages, gross domestic product, industrial energy use, and the list goes on and on. In addition, it analyses trends and publishes forecasts. The agency does not involve itself with political polling generally.
The agency provides information to the public. Many surveys and reports are available free of charge on its website; users can download spreadsheets electronically. In addition, some private market research firms use the agency's vast database information as source material, combining it with value-added presentation software, and then sell the re-packaged information.
Information from demographers is used as source material by journalists for articles. Sometimes statistics can influence public policy. For example, Stats NZ demographers in 2008 spotted a trend of fewer women having children and wrote: "Deciding not to have children happens as a consequence of other life events.... Education, career, mortgages, changes in family and partners for many couples, childlessness is what happens while they are making other plans." Their report was picked up by journalists at the Sunday Star-Times to form the basis of an article with the headline "New Zealand women stop having babies". The article discussed ramifications, such as possible workforce shortages and increased cost of elderly care, as well as possible policy actions such as a "Working for Families" programme. Newspaper headlines can influence public opinion which may impact policy decisions. Stats NZ information is used by government to explore tough problems; a research paper dated April 2009 used agency statistics when exploring how to handle gang violence.
Agency data is quoted by a wide variety of sources, even in the footnotes of books. For example, in "Connecting the Clouds – the Internet in New Zealand", author Keith Newman cites agency statistics regarding telecommunications cost decreases and national finances. Data is used to help retailers spot trends and act accordingly. A newspaper article on decreased do-it-yourself retail spending in 2008 quoted an agency source: "Figures from Statistics New Zealand show DIY spend has been tracking down with the retail sector." This information helps businesses adjust to new realities. Radio programmes such as "Radio New Zealand National" have quoted agency data.
Some agency policies result in controversy. One gay activist felt Stats NZ was "breaking the law" by omitting a question on the 2006 census regarding sexual orientation; the article in the New Zealand Herald elaborated "Mr. van Wetering and the Office of Human Rights Proceedings, the independent legal branch of the commission, expect to discuss the inclusion of the question in the 2011 Census with lawyers for Statistics New Zealand later this year." There were some indications that the agency was seriously considering including a question on sexual orientation. The agency did focus groups exploring this possibility. Sometimes controversies involve disputes over whether agency data was cited properly. One blogger, claiming to be a former Wellingtonian journalist who identifies himself or herself as "Poneke", accused the Sunday Star-Times of publishing misleading data about crime statistics. Poneke noted that “Statistics New Zealand now provide the ability to query the New Zealand Police Statistics – allowing you to gather detailed crime information about your local area since 1994.” The blogger felt the agency was "impeccably impartial", but distrusted various media sources.
One way the agency makes data available to the public is by offering a Table Builder tool. It lets users access specific information from past surveys, and collect it into a customised set of data.
The following counts were derived by using Statistics New Zealand's Table Builder tool:
| Census year | Men | Women |
| 1996 | ||
| 2001 | ||
| 2006 |
Statistics New Zealand develops statistical classifications and standards and works with the corresponding national statistical offices with such nations as Australia, the United States, and Canada. It conducts ongoing research regarding the viability of these standards. Since the early 2000s, it has begun using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupation to describe a wide variety of jobs; for example, the code 111111 describes a chief executive or managing director, while the code 531111 describes a general clerk. By using standardised codes, high speed computers can sift and sort through large databases to produce summary reports.
It also provides technical assistance to developing countries in the Pacific rim, with a special focus on Pacific Island nations.
Statistics New Zealand is acknowledged as the statistical authority within government. While other branches of government generate statistics, Statistics New Zealand works with them to expedite the information as well as provide consulting services when appropriate. It is responsible for the first integrated programme of Official Social Statistics. It provides assistance, guidance and oversight to other government agencies regarding statistics when appropriate. For example, it works with the New Zealand Health Information Service regarding their management of statistical information – a downloaded spreadsheet showed there were 65,120 live births registered in 2007 in the nation, and the table listed Statistics New Zealand as a source of this information. It worked with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to collect and publish cultural data.
Vision
The department's "aim is that New Zealand increasingly gets the statistical information it needs to grow and prosper".The organisation's stated values are statistical excellence, integrity, confidentiality and data security, leading, connecting, and communicating. It says on its website: "By following these values, we aim to deliver accessible, relevant, and timely statistics for all New Zealanders.
Confidentiality is not only a policy chosen by the department but required by law. A section of the Statistics Act 1975 reads "No information from an individual schedule is to be separately published or disclosed , except as authorised by the Statistics Act. This means government cannot abuse personal information from a census by revealing for dubious purposes. For example, a particular person's income responses cannot be handed over to a tax collection agency.
The agency maintains an open copyright policy stating that, apart from images and content with specific copyright statement, users are free to use the work provided that Statistics New Zealand is attributed.