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Government finance statistics (general government) gives an economic representation of New Zealand’s central and local government financial activity.

Key facts

In the year ended June 2024:

• general government net operating deficit was $3.1 billion, following a $6.7 billion deficit in the year ended June 2023
• total operating income increased by 9.7 percent, compared with the year ended June 2023, led by increases in tax revenue
• total operating expenditure increased by 7.0 percent, following a 3.4 percent increase in the year ended June 2023
• operating expenditure growth was driven by increases in social benefits (up $4.3 billion), employee expenses (up $3.5 billion), interest expenses (up $1.7 billion), and depreciation (up $1.2 billion)
• net acquisition of non-financial assets rose by $1.2 billion to $10.3 billion, compared with the year ended June 2023, driven by a rise in buildings and structures
• net worth increased by $20.6 billion to $464.6 billion, following a $19.4 billion increase in the year ended June 2023
• net debt rose by $4.1 billion to $88.9 billion, compared with the year ended June 2023.

Net operating balance deficit decreases

Government finance statistics for general government showed a net operating deficit of $3.1 billion in the year ended June 2024, as the deficit decreased from $6.7 billion in the year ended June 2023. The decrease in deficit was driven by an increase in operating income, while operating expenses rose at a slower rate, contributing to a smaller deficit for the year ended June 2024.

Operating income increased by $14.4 billion to a total of $162.8 billion in the year ended June 2024, compared with the year ended June 2023. This was led by an increase in taxation revenue, outlined as follows:

• Taxes payable by individuals increased by $5.7 billion (10.1 percent).
• Taxes on goods and services increased by $2.8 billion (7.6 percent).
• Taxes payable by corporations increased by $1.5 billion (6.9 percent), compared with the 14.7 percent decrease in the year ended June 2023.

Operating expenses increased by $10.9 billion, to a total of $166.0 billion in the year ended June 2024. The main drivers for the increase were:

• interest expenses, up $1.7 billion (23.3 percent)
• employee expenses, up $3.5 billion (9.6 percent)
• social benefits, up $4.3 billion (7.1 percent).

General government net borrowing for the year ended June 2024 was $13.4 billion, down from $15.8 billion in 2023. However, it has remained in negative territory since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Net worth continues to increase

General government net worth was $464.6 billion at 30 June 2024, up $20.6 billion from 30 June 2023. This change was mainly due to an increase in assets, up $39.2 billion (5.7 percent) to a total of $722.6 billion. Key contributors to the increase in net worth were:

• cash and deposits, up $8.3 billion (21.8 percent)
• loans, up $6.3 billion (18.8 percent)
• equity accounted investments, up $6.0 billion (7.6 percent)
• building and structures, up $9.7 billion (3.7 percent).

Partially offsetting the increase in net worth was an increase in liabilities. This was led by debt securities increasing $18.0 billion (11.9 percent).

Net debt to GDP ratio unchanged

The government finance statistics framework definition of net debt includes all financial assets and liabilities, excluding shares and other equity, equity accounted investments, and financial derivatives.

Net debt increased from $84.8 billion to $88.9 billion during the year ended June 2024. The ratio of government net debt to GDP was 21.5 percent, the same as it was in the year ended June 2023. This implies that net debt and GDP are growing at roughly the same rate. The nominal expenditure measure of GDP increased from $394.9 billion to $413.3 billion during the year ended June 2024.

Central government net debt decreased in nominal terms in most years from 2012 to 2019. Net debt has increased from 2020 onwards, as the government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and severe weather events.

Local government net debt increased by $2.2 billion (11.2 percent) during the year ended June 2024.

Key improvements and revisions

In the year ended June 2024 we have improved the allocation of expense data sourced directly from crown annual reports, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, Māori Health Authority, Te Aka Whai Ora, District Health Boards and the Central Government Enterprise Survey (CGES) to improve alignment with the 2014 standard. For more information, see Government finance statistics (general government): Year ended June 2024 – DataInfo+.

More data

Use Infoshare for time-series data about government finance statistics.

Subject category: Government finance
Group: Government finance statistics – GFS

Definitions and metadata

Government finance statistics (general government): Year ended June 2024 – DataInfo+ explains revisions in this release resulting from new information and improvements.

Government finance statistics (general government): general information – DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce these statistics.

Government finance statistics (general government): concepts – DataInfo+ has definitions of terms used in this release.

Technical enquiries

Yanyan Li
04 931 4600
[email protected]

ISSN 2537-6551

Next release

Government finance statistics (general government): Year ended June 2025 will be released in November 2025.