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Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in New Zealand

New Zealand: Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts was 1 0-6 scale in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
1 0-6 scale
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
31st
of 41 countries
All-time high
1 0-6 scale
in 2001
All-time low
0.375 0-6 scale
in 1990
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in New Zealand, 1990–2025

00.20.40.60.811990200720251990: 0.375 0-6 scale1991: 0.375 0-6 scale1992: 0.375 0-6 scale1993: 0.375 0-6 scale1994: 0.375 0-6 scale1995: 0.375 0-6 scale1996: 0.375 0-6 scale1997: 0.375 0-6 scale1998: 0.375 0-6 scale1999: 0.375 0-6 scale2000: 0.375 0-6 scale2001: 1 0-6 scale2002: 1 0-6 scale2003: 1 0-6 scale2004: 1 0-6 scale2005: 1 0-6 scale2006: 1 0-6 scale2007: 1 0-6 scale2008: 1 0-6 scale2009: 1 0-6 scale2010: 1 0-6 scale2011: 1 0-6 scale2012: 1 0-6 scale2013: 1 0-6 scale2014: 1 0-6 scale2015: 1 0-6 scale2016: 1 0-6 scale2017: 1 0-6 scale2018: 1 0-6 scale2019: 1 0-6 scale2020: 1 0-6 scale2021: 1 0-6 scale2022: 1 0-6 scale2023: 1 0-6 scale2024: 1 0-6 scale2025: 1 0-6 scale

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in 0-6 scale.

Analysis

New Zealand recorded 1 0-6 scale for strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.

The figure is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in New Zealand peaked at 1 0-6 scale in 2001 and was at its lowest, 0.375 0-6 scale, in 1990.

That places New Zealand 31st out of 41 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.

Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in New Zealand, year by year

Year 0-6 scale Change
1990 0.375 0-6 scale —
1991 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
1992 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
1993 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
1994 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
1995 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
1996 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
1997 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
1998 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
1999 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
2000 0.375 0-6 scale +0.0%
2001 1 0-6 scale +166.7%
2002 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2003 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2004 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2005 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2006 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2007 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2008 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2009 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2010 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2011 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2012 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2013 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2014 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2015 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2016 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2017 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2018 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2019 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2020 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2021 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2022 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2023 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2024 1 0-6 scale +0.0%
2025 1 0-6 scale +0.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.375 0-6 scale 0.375 0-6 scale 0.375 0-6 scale 10
2000s 0.9375 0-6 scale 0.375 0-6 scale 1 0-6 scale 10
2010s 1 0-6 scale 1 0-6 scale 1 0-6 scale 10
2020s 1 0-6 scale 1 0-6 scale 1 0-6 scale 6

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  1. 29 Russian Federation 1.12 0-6 scale compare
  2. 29 Australia 1.12 0-6 scale compare
  3. 31 Germany 1 0-6 scale compare
  4. 31 Japan 1 0-6 scale compare
  5. 34 Sweden 0.9375 0-6 scale compare

See the full ranking of 50 places →

More work & labour data for New Zealand

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in New Zealand?
Strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in New Zealand was 1 0-6 scale in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts recorded in New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 1 0-6 scale in 2001.
What is the lowest strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 0.375 0-6 scale in 1990.
How does New Zealand rank for strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts?
New Zealand ranks 31st out of 41 countries with data for 2025.
Is strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. 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 Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 03 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/strictness-of-employment-protection-temporary-contracts/new-zealand/

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About this data

Indicator
Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts
Unit
0-6 scale
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
50 places, 1,336 data points, 1985–2025
Last refreshed

The OECD indicators of employment protection are synthetic indicators of the strictness of regulation on dismissals and the use of temporary contracts. For each year, indicators refer to regulation in force on the 1st of January. For more information and full methodology, see OECD Indicators of Employment Protection webpage Last data update: May 2022 OECD statistics contact: ELS.Contact@oecd.org