Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in New Zealand
New Zealand: Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment was 2,339 Persons in 2025. ▲ Rising
Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in New Zealand, 1956–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Persons.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 2,339 Persons for number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in 2025.
That represents a change of down 0.8% on the previous year and up 16.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in New Zealand peaked at 2,357 Persons in 2024 and was at its lowest, 651.4 Persons, in 1956.
New Zealand ranks 29th of 33 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 52 years of available data.
Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | Persons | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 651.4 Persons | — |
| 1957 | 820 Persons | +25.9% |
| 1958 | 838 Persons | +2.2% |
| 1959 | 852 Persons | +1.7% |
| 1960 | 864 Persons | +1.4% |
| 1961 | 745.3 Persons | -13.7% |
| 1966 | 868.43 Persons | +16.5% |
| 1971 | 958.64 Persons | +10.4% |
| 1976 | 1,072 Persons | +11.8% |
| 1979 | 1,025 Persons | -4.4% |
| 1980 | 1,033 Persons | +0.8% |
| 1981 | 1,093 Persons | +5.8% |
| 1986 | 1,325 Persons | +21.2% |
| 1987 | 1,327 Persons | +0.2% |
| 1988 | 1,273 Persons | -4.1% |
| 1989 | 1,225 Persons | -3.8% |
| 1990 | 1,230 Persons | +0.4% |
| 1991 | 1,198 Persons | -2.6% |
| 1992 | 1,190 Persons | -0.7% |
| 1993 | 1,215 Persons | +2.1% |
| 1994 | 1,269 Persons | +4.4% |
| 1995 | 1,330 Persons | +4.8% |
| 1996 | 1,373 Persons | +3.2% |
| 1997 | 1,400 Persons | +2.0% |
| 1998 | 1,385 Persons | -1.1% |
| 1999 | 1,394 Persons | +0.6% |
| 2000 | 1,423 Persons | +2.1% |
| 2001 | 1,480 Persons | +4.0% |
| 2002 | 1,537 Persons | +3.9% |
| 2003 | 1,576 Persons | +2.5% |
| 2004 | 1,633 Persons | +3.6% |
| 2005 | 1,695 Persons | +3.8% |
| 2006 | 1,753 Persons | +3.4% |
| 2007 | 1,793 Persons | +2.3% |
| 2008 | 1,798 Persons | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 1,791 Persons | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 1,803 Persons | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 1,818 Persons | +0.8% |
| 2012 | 1,815 Persons | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 1,880 Persons | +3.6% |
| 2014 | 1,956 Persons | +4.0% |
| 2015 | 2,016 Persons | +3.1% |
| 2016 | 2,037 Persons | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 2,103 Persons | +3.2% |
| 2018 | 2,165 Persons | +2.9% |
| 2019 | 2,191 Persons | +1.2% |
| 2020 | 2,180 Persons | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 2,216 Persons | +1.7% |
| 2022 | 2,263 Persons | +2.1% |
| 2023 | 2,353 Persons | +4.0% |
| 2024 | 2,357 Persons | +0.2% |
| 2025 | 2,339 Persons | -0.8% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 2,339 Persons is below the median for high income countries, which is 4,390 Persons, 53% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in New Zealand changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | +25.9% | 651.4 Persons | 820 Persons |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 790.35 Persons | 651.4 Persons | 852 Persons | 4 |
| 1960s | 825.91 Persons | 745.3 Persons | 868.43 Persons | 3 |
| 1970s | 1,018 Persons | 958.64 Persons | 1,072 Persons | 3 |
| 1980s | 1,213 Persons | 1,033 Persons | 1,327 Persons | 6 |
| 1990s | 1,298 Persons | 1,190 Persons | 1,400 Persons | 10 |
| 2000s | 1,648 Persons | 1,423 Persons | 1,798 Persons | 10 |
| 2010s | 1,978 Persons | 1,803 Persons | 2,191 Persons | 10 |
| 2020s | 2,285 Persons | 2,180 Persons | 2,357 Persons | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More work & labour data for New Zealand
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.0748 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.0721 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.0776 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.39 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 0.4877 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 5,200 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 511.04 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 2,819 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 2,994 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 5,812 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in New Zealand?
- Number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in New Zealand was 2,339 Persons in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 2,357 Persons in 2024.
- What is the lowest number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 651.4 Persons in 1956.
- How does New Zealand rank for number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment?
- New Zealand ranks 29th out of 33 countries with data for 2025.
- Is number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 16.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
The dataflow "Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4)" is a subset of the “Employment by activites and status (ALFS)” dataset which presents annual labour force statistics for OECD member countries, Brazil and 4 geographical areas (Major Seven, Euro zone, European Union and OECD-Total). This dataflow shows the number of employees broken down by economic activities (ISIC Rev. 4). Economic activities are defined according to the Major divisions of the International standard International Classification (ISIC) Rev. 4 with the exception of the United-States wich compiled since 2003, employment data by sector following the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS); NAICS sector are then proxied to ISIC Rev. 4 and are therefore not strictly comparable with other countries’ data. The professional status is defined in the International Classification by status in Employment (ICSE-1993). Data are presented in thousands of persons, or as indices with base year 2015=100. Annual data in this dataset are typically calculated as averages of infra-annual estimates. This can lead to differences with annual data published by National Statistics Institutes. Historical data of employment statistics defined according to ISIC Rev. 2 are also available from 1970 to 2014 Historical data of employment statistics defined according to ISIC Rev. 3 are available from 1983 to 2023. Data for Canada are currently only available in ISIC Rev. 3