Where New Zealand economic statistics come from
What counts as data for this standard
- The standard says "statistical data in this context refers to economic statistics".
- That means official, published, quantitative series — not opinions, not newspaper claims, and not a single number quoted without a source.
- You need enough observations to show a trend, so aim for at least five years of annual data, or twelve to twenty quarters of quarterly data.
The four sources you should know
Stats NZ — the main source for almost everything
| Series | What it measures | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers Price Index (CPI) | Inflation | Quarterly |
| Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) | Unemployment, employment, participation, underutilisation | Quarterly |
| Gross Domestic Product | Economic growth, nominal and real | Quarterly |
| Overseas Merchandise Trade | Exports and imports by good and by country | Monthly |
| Balance of Payments | The balance on goods and services | Quarterly |
| Labour Cost Index / wage data | Wage growth | Quarterly |
- Infoshare is Stats NZ's free database, where you can download any of these as a spreadsheet.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)
- The Official Cash Rate (OCR) and its history
- Exchange rates, including the NZ$ against individual currencies and the Trade Weighted Index
- Interest rates on mortgages and deposits
- The Monetary Policy Statement, which also contains the RBNZ's own forecasts
The Treasury
- The Budget and the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update
- Government revenue, expenditure and the operating balance
- Official economic forecasts
MBIE
- Regional economic activity, tourism, and sector-specific data
Choosing your two issues
- The standard lists inflation, international trade, economic growth, unemployment, or another issue involving the allocation of scarce resources.
- Choose two that are economically connected. The inter-relationship section is a third of the Achieved criteria, and it is very hard to write about two unrelated issues.
| Pairing | The link you will explain |
|---|---|
| Economic growth and unemployment | Growth raises demand for labour (derived demand), so unemployment falls |
| Inflation and the OCR | The RBNZ raises the OCR in response to inflation; higher rates reduce AD and then inflation |
| The exchange rate and export receipts | A depreciation makes exports cheaper overseas, raising export volumes and receipts |
| Inflation and wage growth | Real wages depend on the gap; wage claims respond to past inflation |
| Economic growth and imports | Higher incomes raise spending on imported goods |
Rules for using a source properly
Reference everything.
- Name the organisation, the series, the period and the date you retrieved it.
- Stats NZ, Consumers Price Index, September 2025 quarter, retrieved 12 March 2026.
Check what the number actually measures.
- Is the inflation figure annual or quarterly? A quarterly rate of 1.2% is not the same as an annual rate of 1.2%.
- Is GDP nominal or real? Only real GDP measures growth.
- Is the series seasonally adjusted? Unemployment and trade data have strong seasonal patterns, and comparing an unadjusted December quarter with an unadjusted March quarter can produce a "trend" that is purely seasonal.
Use consistent definitions across your whole series.
- If a definition or base year changed part-way through, say so. A jump caused by a definitional change is not an economic event.
Prefer the original source.
- A figure quoted in a news article should be traced back to Stats NZ or the RBNZ. Secondary sources round, simplify and sometimes misdescribe.
Worked ExampleChoosing a pair and planning the data
You must choose two contemporary economic issues for your AS91226 report and plan what data to collect.
Show how to choose a workable pair and set out the data needed.
Step 1 — Check the pair against the standard
The standard allows inflation, international trade, economic growth, unemployment, or another issue involving the allocation of scarce resources.
Chosen pair: economic growth and unemployment.
Both are on the standard's list, so both qualify without any argument needed.
Step 2 — Check that an economic relationship exists
This is the test most pairs fail. Ask: can I explain a link using a concept or model I already know?
Yes, and with two models:
- Derived demand. Firms hire workers because of what they produce. When real GDP rises, firms sell more, so demand for labour shifts right and unemployment falls.
- AS/AD. Rising AD raises real GDP, and producing more output requires more workers.
- The PPF. Unemployment means the economy is at a point inside its frontier, which is exactly the same thing as producing below capacity.
Three ways to explain the same link means the inter-relationship section will write itself.
Step 3 — Identify the exact series to collect
| Issue | Series | Source | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic growth | Real GDP, annual % change | Stats NZ (Infoshare) | Quarterly | 10 years |
| Economic growth | Real GDP per capita | Stats NZ | Annual | 10 years |
| Unemployment | Unemployment rate | Stats NZ, HLFS | Quarterly | 10 years |
| Unemployment | Participation rate and underutilisation rate | Stats NZ, HLFS | Quarterly | 10 years |
Step 4 — Note the checks before using anything
- Real, not nominal, GDP — nominal GDP confounds price and quantity.
- Seasonally adjusted unemployment, so seasonal horticulture and tourism patterns do not masquerade as a trend.
- Consistent frequency — use quarterly for both, or annual for both, but do not mix them on one graph.
- The same date range for both issues, so the two series can be compared quarter by quarter.
Step 5 — Note the extra series that will pay off later
Collecting the participation rate alongside the unemployment rate lets you check whether a falling unemployment rate reflects people finding work or people giving up looking — the discouraged-worker effect. That single check will produce the most sophisticated paragraph in the report, and it costs one extra download.