Public employment in New Zealand

New Zealand: Public employment was 2,290 in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
2,290
Change on year
up 3.7%
World rank
29th
of 47 countries
All-time high
2,290
in 2023
All-time low
1,757
in 2012
Years of data
12
2012–2023

Public employment in New Zealand, 2012–2023

05001.0k1.5k2.0k2.5k2012201720232012: 1.8k2013: 1.8k2014: 1.8k2015: 1.9k2016: 1.9k2017: 2.0k2018: 2.0k2019: 2.1k2020: 2.1k2021: 2.2k2022: 2.2k2023: 2.3k

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

In 2023, public employment in New Zealand stood at 2,290. That is the highest value across all 12 years on record.

The figure is up 3.7% on the previous year and up 28.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, public employment in New Zealand peaked at 2,290 in 2023 and was at its lowest, 1,757, in 2012.

New Zealand ranks 29th of 47 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.

Public employment in New Zealand, year by year

Annual values for Public employment in New Zealand, 2012 to 2023.
Year Value Change
2012 1,757
2013 1,788 +1.8%
2014 1,828 +2.2%
2015 1,881 +2.9%
2016 1,932 +2.7%
2017 2,000 +3.5%
2018 2,047 +2.4%
2019 2,094 +2.3%
2020 2,111 +0.8%
2021 2,158 +2.2%
2022 2,209 +2.4%
2023 2,290 +3.7%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 1,916 1,757 2,094 8
2020s 2,192 2,111 2,290 4

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  1. 26 Norway 2,973 compare
  2. 27 Finland 2,739 compare
  3. 28 Slovakia 2,430 compare
  4. 30 Ireland 2,234 compare
  5. 31 Costa Rica 2,095 compare
  6. 32 South Africa 1,976 compare

See the full ranking of 47 places →

More work & labour data for New Zealand

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is public employment in New Zealand?
Public employment in New Zealand was 2,290 in 2023, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest public employment recorded in New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 2,290 in 2023.
What is the lowest public employment recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 1,757 in 2012.
How does New Zealand rank for public employment?
New Zealand ranks 29th out of 47 countries with data for 2023.
Is public employment rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is up 28.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this New Zealand data come from?
The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Public employment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Public employment in New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 02 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/public-employment/new-zealand/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/public-employment/new-zealand/">Public employment in New Zealand</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Public employment
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
47 places, 681 data points, 1975–2024
Last refreshed

With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. The total public sector employment covers all employment of general government sector as defined in System of National Accounts 1993 plus employment of publicly owned enterprises and companies, resident and operating at central, state (or regional) and local levels of government. It covers all persons employed directly by those institutions, without regard for the particular type of employment contract. See the working paper: Statistics on Public Sector Employment: Methodology, Structures and Trends. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.