Labor participation rate in New Zealand
New Zealand: Labor participation rate was 70.35 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
70.35
Change on year
down 0.3%
World rank
27th
of 186 countries
All-time high
71.5
in 2023
All-time low
62.87
in 1993
Years of data
36
1990–2025
Labor participation rate in New Zealand, 1990–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 70.35 for labor participation rate in 2025.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and up 2.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, labor participation rate in New Zealand peaked at 71.5 in 2023 and was at its lowest, 62.87, in 1993.
That places New Zealand 27th out of 186 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 64.01 | 62.87 | 65.15 | 10 |
| 2000s | 66.71 | 64.77 | 68.01 | 10 |
| 2010s | 68.79 | 67.41 | 70.51 | 10 |
| 2020s | 70.6 | 69.86 | 71.5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More work & labour data for New Zealand
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- Women can take the same jobs as men 1 (2023)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 70.4% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) 74.7% (2025)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) 88.4% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15 66.1% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15-6 82.6% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) 85.9% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15 79.2% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is labor participation rate in New Zealand?
- Labor participation rate in New Zealand was 70.35 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest labor participation rate recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 71.5 in 2023.
- What is the lowest labor participation rate recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 62.87 in 1993.
- How does New Zealand rank for labor participation rate?
- New Zealand ranks 27th out of 186 countries with data for 2025.
- Is labor participation rate rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Labor participation rate. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).