Business demography statistics provide an annual snapshot of the characteristics of New Zealand businesses. The statistics cover economically significant enterprises that produce goods and services in New Zealand.
Key facts
Provisional data showed that at February 2024:
- New Zealand had 612,420 enterprises, an increase of 1.0 percent from February 2023; this followed a 2.0 percent increase in the previous February year
- the number of paid employees in these enterprises (not an official employment statistic) was 2.5 million, up 1.5 percent from February 2023
- these enterprises had 649,160 business locations, an increase of 0.9 percent from February 2023
- of the 19 industries, 11 had more enterprises compared with February 2023, and 14 had more employees
- of the 16 regions, 14 had more business locations than a year ago, and 11 had more employees.
The enterprise counts in this series are influenced not only by enterprise births and deaths but also by those enterprises that change their economic significance status between reference years.
has more information about business demography statistics coverage and economic significance criteria.
| Year | Enterprises |
| 2012 | 474642 |
| 2013 | 477681 |
| 2014 | 495774 |
| 2015 | 508242 |
| 2016 | 518019 |
| 2017 | 532239 |
| 2018 | 537939 |
| 2019 | 549558 |
| 2020 | 560589 |
| 2021 | 564969 |
| 2022 | 594873 |
| 2023 | 606633 |
| 2024 | 612417 |
| Year | Employees |
| 2012 | 1934400 |
| 2013 | 1948500 |
| 2014 | 2003200 |
| 2015 | 2053900 |
| 2016 | 2105700 |
| 2017 | 2166500 |
| 2018 | 2239000 |
| 2019 | 2290300 |
| 2020 | 2332400 |
| 2021 | 2313700 |
| 2022 | 2391600 |
| 2023 | 2463300 |
| 2024 | 2500700 |
Health care and social assistance industry continues to be the top employer
- With 292,800 employees at February 2024, the health care and social assistance industry maintained its position as the highest-employing industry for the fifth-consecutive year.
- At February 2024, the accommodation and food services industry had 179,500 employees, 1.5 percent more than at February 2023. This followed an increase of 10.7 percent in the previous year.
- The transport, postal, and warehousing industry had 17,250 enterprises and 104,300 employees, up 2.4 percent and 3.8 percent respectively, from February 2023.
- The retail trade industry had 29,890 enterprises and 227,200 employees, a decrease of 0.8 percent and 1.2 percent respectively, from February 2023.
- In the arts and recreation industry, enterprise and employee numbers went up by 4.0 percent and 6.0 percent respectively.
- The rental, hiring, and real estate services industry continued to have the largest share (21 percent) of all enterprises in New Zealand. This is an industry dominated by residential and commercial property operators.
Auckland region covers over one-third of all business locations and employees
At February 2024, the Auckland region accounted for 35 percent of all business locations and employees in the country.
The Auckland region had:
- 227,380 business locations, up 0.8 percent from February 2023
- 882,800 employees, up 1.5 percent.
The Canterbury region had 80,970 business locations (a 12 percent share of all business locations) and 337,700 employees (a 13 percent share).
In the year ended February 2024, both the number of business locations and employees increased at a higher rate in the Canterbury region than nationally, with:
- business locations up 1.5 percent (up 0.9 percent nationally)
- employees up 2.8 percent (up 1.5 percent nationally).
The Wellington region had 63,710 business locations and 292,400 employees, down 0.3 percent and up 2.1 percent respectively, from February 2023.
The number of employees in the Gisborne region rose by 6.3 percent in the year ended February 2024, following a decline of 2.6 percent in the previous year. The number of business locations increased by 1.4 percent.
| Region | Percent |
| Northland | 1.8 |
| Auckland | 1.5 |
| Waikato | 0.8 |
| Bay of Plenty | 1.6 |
| Gisborne | 6.3 |
| Hawke’s Bay | 1.7 |
| Taranaki | -0.2 |
| Manawatu-Whanganui | -0.3 |
| Wellington | 2.1 |
| Tasman | -0.7 |
| Nelson | -0.5 |
| Marlborough | 2.5 |
| West Coast | 2.1 |
| Canterbury | 2.8 |
| Otago | 1.3 |
| Southland | -0.5 |
Large enterprises increase their share of enterprises and employees
At February 2024, there were 2,900 ‘large enterprises’ (those with 100 or more employees) in New Zealand, up 2.0 percent from February 2023. This rate of increase was the highest among all employment size groups for enterprises.
The total number of employees in these large enterprises was 1,238,000, (up 2.6 percent from February 2023). These employees represented 50 percent of all employees in New Zealand.
At February 2024, 73 percent of enterprises in New Zealand did not have any (paid) employees.
| Size group | Enterprises | Employees |
| 0 | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| 1-5 | -1.0 | -0.6 |
| 6-9 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| 10-19 | -0.2 | -0.1 |
| 20-49 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
| 50-99 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| 100+ | 2.0 | 2.6 |
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Subject category: Industry sectors
Group: Business Data Collection – BDC
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Definitions and metadata
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Upul Paranawithana
ISSN 1174-1988
Next release
New Zealand business demography statistics: At February 2025 will be released in October 2025.
