2018 Census update – Media release

1 June 2018

The online census system was switched off last week, so it’s now time to bring together the data we’ve received from millions of New Zealanders who took part in the 2018 Census, Stats NZ said today.

“I’d like to thank everyone in New Zealand who took the time to take part in this year’s census, and the thousands of community organisations, volunteers, and agencies who helped us spread the word,” Government Statistician Liz MacPherson said.

“Our next task is to do what we do best at Stats NZ and create the highest quality dataset we can, so that it can be used by government and organisations across New Zealand to help make informed decisions.

“This information is vital in deciding how much government funding your local hospital or school gets.

“Overall, we’re pleased with the high numbers of households who took part online – our interim figures are showing that more than 82 percent of our responses were online, which far surpasses our online target of 70 percent, and the quality of the data we’ve received online is also very high.

“While parts of the census operation worked really well, there are some aspects that are proving more challenging than we anticipated for this census,” Ms MacPherson said.

“It is normal for some people to not fill in census forms, or submit their forms with unanswered questions, but this year we haven’t received as many responses from individuals as we expected.”

Our interim calculations show that we have full or partial information for at least 90 percent of individuals, compared with 94.5 percent for the 2013 Census.

Because individual responses are lower than we had planned, we need more time than we’d originally anticipated to draw on other information sources and new methods to achieve the highest quality dataset.

“We’re well placed to do this as we have been developing new approaches for future censuses for some time, in particular by using the other government information that we hold to complement the data we collect through the census.”

More information about the methodologies we’ll be using is available in 2018 Census: technical support information.

As a result of the additional analysis required, Stats NZ will not be able to release final figures for several months.

“We will start releasing data from the census as soon as we’re confident that we have produced the highest quality dataset that we can.

“While we can’t be sure yet why we have a lower response from individuals, there are a number of factors we will explore as part of our planned review.

“We already know we didn’t get everything right. We built new systems and processes to run this census, and while the majority of New Zealanders were able to take part without a hitch, we know that some people did not have a good experience this year.

“I have had mixed feedback from people. For some it was the easiest census ever; for others it has been a frustrating experience. For that I am sorry,” Ms MacPherson said.

“As with every census, we will be undertaking a full independent review to ensure we can make improvements next time.

“As an agency that prides itself on being open, transparent, and independent, we will keep New Zealanders informed about timing as we work towards releasing the first census data,” Ms MacPherson said.

“Thank you for your patience.”

2018 Census interim figures
• Our field teams conducted nearly one million visits over seven weeks of follow-up, and hand-delivered more than 300,000 paper packs to households during these visits.
• We hand-delivered approximately 400,000 access code letters before census day.
• We posted approximately 2.6 million access code letters. This includes the original letter posted in late February and the four reminder letters sent after census day.
• We posted approximately 233,000 paper packs and access codes to households that requested them via our contact centre.
• We spent $2 million on media placement (advertising across TV, digital, social media, radio, outdoor, and newspapers). Research shows that 97 percent of the population were aware of the census.
• We worked with all universities, 320 libraries, 21 district health boards, and 73 regional and local councils to promote the benefits and value of completing the census.
• Our engagement team worked with more than 600 community organisations, 330 champions, and 8,000 volunteers to support more than 400 community-led promotions and events. Our engagement team was involved in an average of seven events every day from 13 January–23 March.

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