New Zealand Scraps Census

In the same week that governments in Great Britain were advised to keep their decennial census surveys in something like their current form, the government of New Zealand has decided to discontinue its own census, which in recent times has run twice each decade.

As in other countries, data from New Zealand's census is used for a wide variety of public and private sector purposes, the former including where new schools are built and the size and location of voting districts. Now the government has decided that from 2030, census-style statistics will be compiled based on administrative data collected by other government agencies - including tax records - as well as annual surveys of a sample (only) of the population.

The last three NZ census surveys have been plagued with difficulties - in 2011 these were from factors outside government control, namely the Christchurch earthquake of 2011 which resulted in a postponement of the exercise scheduled for that year until 2013. The 2018 census was conducted digitally, reported many months late and saw a dramatic drop in completion rate from 92% to 83%; while the latest, 2023 survey, despite improving the response rate again to just under 90%, cost more than three times as much as that of 2013, and saw allegations of misuse of data.

Statistics Minister Shane Reti in announcing this week's decision referred to these problems, stating: 'Despite the unsustainable and escalating costs, successive censuses have been beset with issues or failed to meet expectations.'

Critics of the decision include Len Cook, the country's chief statistician from 1992 to 2000, and also a previous senior statistician in the UK. Quoted on www.rnz.co.nz , Cook said the main survey is being discarded just as an accurate picture of New Zealand's population is crucial. 'We're in the middle of what I call a population storm, where falling fertility, rising life expectancy, and huge migration volatility means that pretty much every one of our 67 local authorities now is changing in an entirely different way from the other.' He adds: 'If the UK is not prepared to make this move in six years' time, then we need to have a damn sight better explanation of why New Zealand is going to do it now.'

A census was first conducted in New Zealand in 1851. Web site: www.stats.govt.nz/topics/census .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.