Introduction to Statistics NZ Online Resources

Overview  The information we collect  Examples of social statistics  Examples of economic statistics  Free tools to use on our website  Tools for understanding the data  Accessing free support services

Information is available at these geographic levels Meshblocks (41,392) Area units (1,927) Territorial authorities (73) Regional councils (16) Meshblock Electoral districts  General  Māori Wards Regional council constituencies Area units Territorial authorities Regional councils Urban areas Statistical areas

Census  The census is the official count of population and dwellings in New Zealand, providing a ‘snapshot’ of our society at a point in time.  The New Zealand census is taken every five years – 2001, 2006, 2011….  The census gives us information about older New Zealanders, youth and children. We can look at differences in the lives of men and women, or find out how our local town or district is unique. The census is how we learn about who makes up our communities.

We do more than the census… We can help organisations, businesses, community groups and individuals, with information from the:  Household Economic Survey  Business Demography Statistics  Retail Trade Survey  Household Labour Force Survey  Linked Employer-Employee Data  Producers Price Index  Labour Cost Index  Consumers Price Index  Gross Domestic Product, and many more.

Examples of social statistics  Births and Deaths  Household Use of Information and Communication Technology information-and-communication-technology.aspx information-and-communication-technology.aspx  Marriages, Civil Unions and Divorces and-divorces.aspx and-divorces.aspx  Subnational Population Estimates estimates.aspx estimates.aspx  National Population Projections projections.aspx projections.aspx

Examples of economic statistics  Gross Domestic Product (GDP)  Consumers Price Index (CPI)  Producers Price Index (PPI)  Labour Cost Index (LCI) costs.aspx  Overseas Trade Indexes (OTI)  Linked Employer-Employee Data (LEED) data.aspx

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) GDP measures the national income earned from production in New Zealand. It includes income from production carried out by New Zealanders and by foreign firms operating within New Zealand. Agriculture had a large percentage decrease in its contribution to GDP for this quarter.

Consumers Price Index (CPI) The CPI measures the rate of price change of goods and services purchased by households, using a fixed, representative ‘basket’ of approximately 685 goods and services. The CPI measures changes for 11 main groups: Transport Food Housing and household utilities Health Clothing and footwear Miscellaneous goods and services Household contents and services Communication Education Alcoholic beverages and tobacco Recreation and culture. June 2008 quarter

Producers Price Index (PPI) The PPI measures prices relating to the production sector of the economy and is made up of two types of index:  Outputs index – measures changes in the prices received by producers; for example primary products, manufactured goods  Inputs index – measures changes in the cost of production (excluding labour and capital costs); for example, materials, fuels and electricity, transport and communication x 100 = 6.75% increase in costs of production for Retail Trade sector x 100 = 5.4% increase in prices received for Retail Trade sector TIGHTENING MARGINS!!!

Labour Cost Index (LCI) The LCI measures changes in base salary and ordinary time wage rates, overtime wage rates, and non-wage labour-related costs (eg annual leave, superannuation and medical insurance). It covers paid jobs filled by employees in all occupations and all industries, except private households x 100 = 2.7% increase in salary & wage rates in Retail Trade industry x 100 = 4.5% increase in salary & wage rates for Service & Sales Workers occupation

The OTI measure changes in the levels of both prices and volumes of imports and exports of trade, to and from New Zealand, and each is made up of two types of index:  Overseas merchandise trade – measures changes in the price levels of imports and exports of merchandise trade to and from New Zealand  Overseas services trade – measures changes in the price levels of services provided to and received from non-resident entities. Overseas Trade Indexes (OTI) Terms of trade The terms of trade measures the changing volume of merchandise imports that can be funded by a fixed volume of New Zealand’s merchandise exports. It is a measure of New Zealand’s ability to trade with the rest of the world, and indicates the purchasing power of New Zealand’s export goods.

Statistics NZ Online Tools For help using any of these tools, please contact our Information Centre toll-free on or and one of our advisors can help you get started. More information about our services can be found at:

Table Builder Table Builder is a free online tool that enables you to customise and extract the information you want from large tables of data.

Infoshare is NZ’s largest web-based time series database where you can get customised information from many datasets, extending back as far as 1914 in some cases.

Interactive Boundary Maps A free online mapping tool that allows you to understand how NZ is broken down into statistical areas for analysis & reporting. It shows you basic data about the area you choose and also links to more detailed Census results in “QuickStats”

A set of free information tools that allows you to:  map where your target market is located by selected variables  profile small business industries to see how your industry is doing

Methods and services Use this section to understand more about the surveys & methodology used, data classifications and much more…. Where do I subscribe to newsletters that inform me of new releases? As a survey respondent, where do I get information about how the survey data is being used? What methodology was used to analyse the data? What does ANZSCO classification stand for?

The latest information from Statistics NZ is released regularly and accessible via the homepage. Each Information Release is produced in a standard format with four parts: Information Releases Overview of the main points of the release List & spreadsheet of data tables Detailed analysis of the data within the release Technical details about the survey, what it is measuring, definitions etc

Want to know more about how our statistics can benefit your organisation but don’t know where to start? We have a free information service where our Information Advisors can help you. Ph or Help is only moments away! Or to find out more about our free support services, visit us at: zealand/outreach-and-liaison.aspx