NZ inNumbersMenu
NZ inNumbers

Spending NZ

Government spending were $141.7 billion (The Treasury (New Zealand), 2024/25).

Updated

Expenses of the core Crown on an accrual basis from 1994. Treasury notes these include items such as depreciation on physical assets but not capital spending.

Government spending split by function (welfare, health, education, law and order and so on), classified by Treasury using the United Nations Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG).

Excludes capital spending (e.g. building a hospital is not an expense in the year it is built; depreciation is). Before 1994 the comparable measure is cash "financial net expenditure", which is not directly comparable.

Dividing a national total by population puts it on a human scale. Spending per person is an average across the country; the amount spent on each person varies with their circumstances.

Read the period beside each number before comparing it with another figure. A monthly observation, a quarterly result and a financial year cover different spans of time. The latest release can also revise earlier observations. The chart and downloads keep the published periods so you can check which figures are being compared. A change in spending describes what happened during that period; it does not by itself explain why it happened or identify the effect of a government policy. Definitions and coverage matter as much as the size of a change.

Sources: The Treasury (New Zealand); Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa and The Treasury (New Zealand); NZ in Numbers calculation. Last retrieved 10 October 2026.

Spending, Government spending: $m, 1993/94 to 2024/25

Spending. Core Crown expenses, 1993/94 to 2024/25, latest $141,675 million.050,000100,000150,000New accounting basis, 1996/97New accounting basis, 2004/051993/941999/002005/062011/122017/182024/25
Show the figures
PeriodCore Crown expenses ($m)
2024/25$141,675 million
2023/24$138,998 million
2022/23$127,574 million
2021/22$125,641 million
2020/21$107,764 million
2019/20$108,832 million
2018/19$86,959 million
2017/18$80,576 million
2016/17$76,339 million
2015/16$73,929 million
2014/15$72,363 million
2013/14$71,174 million
2012/13$69,962 million
2011/12$68,939 million
2010/11$70,099 million
2009/10$63,554 million
2008/09$63,711 million
2007/08$56,753 million
2006/07$53,764 million
2005/06$49,084 million
Full data: core crown expenses
2024/25Core Crown expenses $141,675 millionTreasury basis: PBE Standards

Expenses of the core Crown on an accrual basis from 1994. Treasury notes these include items such as depreciation on physical assets but not capital spending.

Spending. Core Crown expenses: $141,675 million in 2024/25.

Each measure retains its own definition and period. Lines break at changes in basis and missing periods. Choose a measure to see its note and readout.

Download CSVDownload JSONAnalyse with AI

Full downloads for every dataset on this page:

government spendingCSVJSON
government spending by functionCSVJSON
Government revenue and spending, adjusted for inflationCSVJSON

Spending: definitions

Government spending

Expenses of the core Crown on an accrual basis from 1994. Treasury notes these include items such as depreciation on physical assets but not capital spending.

Government spending by function

Government spending split by function (welfare, health, education, law and order and so on), classified by Treasury using the United Nations Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG).

Government revenue and spending, adjusted for inflation

Core Crown revenue, tax revenue and expenses expressed in constant 2024/25 prices, so years can be compared after removing the effect of rising prices. Fiscal years (June years from 1990, March years before).

Spending: comparison limits

These affect how far the figures can be compared.

Government spending

  • Excludes capital spending (e.g. building a hospital is not an expense in the year it is built; depreciation is).
  • Before 1994 the comparable measure is cash "financial net expenditure", which is not directly comparable.
  • Accounting basis changes in 1997 (IFRS), 2005 (PBE restatement) and 2019/2020 (new PBE standards).

Government spending by function

  • Pre-1994 series were reclassified to COFOG headings by Treasury but are "not necessarily consistent with the COFOG standard".
  • Before 1994 the functions do not sum to financial net expenditure (net lending is not allocated to functions).
  • Social security and welfare includes the Government Superannuation Fund (GSF); NZ Super is within this category.

Government revenue and spending, adjusted for inflation

  • Adjusts for consumer prices, not for population growth or the size of the economy; see per-person (to be added once population is connected) and % of GDP views.
  • Accounting-basis breaks in the nominal series (1994, 1997, 2005) carry through; compare within a basis.
  • The CPI measures household prices, which can differ from the prices the government pays.

Spending by NZ government

The last published observation before each term began and ended. The current term uses the latest observation.Change since a government took office is not the same as its effect.

Prime ministersIn officeStartEndChange
Bolger, ShipleyNov 1990 to Dec 1999Not available$33,939 million (1998/99)Not available
ClarkDec 1999 to Nov 2008$33,939 million (1998/99)$56,753 million (2007/08)Not comparable: accounting basis changed
Key, EnglishNov 2008 to Oct 2017$56,753 million (2007/08)$76,339 million (2016/17)A rise of $19,586 million
Ardern, HipkinsOct 2017 to Nov 2023$76,339 million (2016/17)$127,574 million (2022/23)A rise of $51,235 million
LuxonNov 2023 to now$127,574 million (2022/23)$141,675 million (2024/25, latest)A rise of $14,101 million so far
Compare governments on any measure

Spending: data by period

The latest ten published periods for up to six series in each dataset. The downloads contain every observation.

Government spending

Expenses of the core Crown on an accrual basis from 1994. Treasury notes these include items such as depreciation on physical assets but not capital spending.

Periodgovernment spendinggovernment spending
2024/25$141,675 million (pbe)32.5% of GDP (pbe)
2023/24$138,998 million (pbe)33.1% of GDP (pbe)
2022/23$127,574 million (pbe)31.8% of GDP (pbe)
2021/22$125,641 million (pbe)34.4% of GDP (pbe)
2020/21$107,764 million (pbe)31.4% of GDP (pbe)
2019/20$108,832 million (pbe)34.3% of GDP (pbe)
2018/19$86,959 million (pbe)28.0% of GDP (pbe)
2017/18$80,576 million (pbe)27.3% of GDP (pbe)
2016/17$76,339 million (pbe)27.7% of GDP (pbe)
2015/16$73,929 million (pbe)28.6% of GDP (pbe)

Government spending by function

Government spending split by function (welfare, health, education, law and order and so on), classified by Treasury using the United Nations Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG).

Periodgovernment spending: social security and welfare (incl. GSF)government spending: healthgovernment spending: educationgovernment spending: core government servicesgovernment spending: law and ordergovernment spending: defence
2024/25$47,568 million (pbe)$30,311 million (pbe)$20,895 million (pbe)$7,908 million (pbe)$6,734 million (pbe)$3,271 million (pbe)
2023/24$44,658 million (pbe)$29,999 million (pbe)$20,223 million (pbe)$8,468 million (pbe)$6,527 million (pbe)$3,163 million (pbe)
2022/23$41,575 million (pbe)$28,489 million (pbe)$18,403 million (pbe)$6,806 million (pbe)$6,165 million (pbe)$2,886 million (pbe)
2021/22$42,954 million (pbe)$27,781 million (pbe)$18,023 million (pbe)$5,720 million (pbe)$5,444 million (pbe)$2,832 million (pbe)
2020/21$36,759 million (pbe)$22,784 million (pbe)$16,039 million (pbe)$5,754 million (pbe)$5,202 million (pbe)$2,664 million (pbe)
2019/20$44,028 million (pbe)$19,891 million (pbe)$16,322 million (pbe)$6,083 million (pbe)$4,911 million (pbe)$2,499 million (pbe)
2018/19$28,806 million (pbe)$18,268 million (pbe)$14,293 million (pbe)$5,166 million (pbe)$4,625 million (pbe)$2,395 million (pbe)
2017/18$26,149 million (pbe)$17,159 million (pbe)$13,629 million (pbe)$4,670 million (pbe)$4,184 million (pbe)$2,251 million (pbe)
2016/17$25,511 million (pbe)$16,223 million (pbe)$13,281 million (pbe)$3,957 million (pbe)$3,882 million (pbe)$2,146 million (pbe)
2015/16$24,352 million (pbe)$15,626 million (pbe)$13,158 million (pbe)$4,102 million (pbe)$3,648 million (pbe)$2,026 million (pbe)

Government revenue and spending, adjusted for inflation

Core Crown revenue, tax revenue and expenses expressed in constant 2024/25 prices, so years can be compared after removing the effect of rising prices. Fiscal years (June years from 1990, March years before).

PeriodCore Crown revenue (inflation-adjusted, 2024/25 prices)tax (inflation-adjusted, 2024/25 prices)government spending (inflation-adjusted, 2024/25 prices)
2024/25$134,411 million (pbe)$121,698 million (pbe)$141,675 million (pbe)
2023/24$136,411 million (pbe)$123,454 million (pbe)$142,328 million (pbe)
2022/23$131,917 million (pbe)$120,115 million (pbe)$136,381 million (pbe)
2021/22$134,140 million (pbe)$123,802 million (pbe)$143,415 million (pbe)
2020/21$127,350 million (pbe)$118,876 million (pbe)$130,743 million (pbe)
2019/20$113,684 million (pbe)$105,248 million (pbe)$134,596 million (pbe)
2018/19$117,713 million (pbe)$108,890 million (pbe)$109,509 million (pbe)
2017/18$111,179 million (pbe)$102,782 million (pbe)$103,233 million (pbe)
2016/17$106,373 million (pbe)$98,390 million (pbe)$99,294 million (pbe)
2015/16$100,411 million (pbe)$92,923 million (pbe)$97,519 million (pbe)

Spending: questions for your AI

Download the files, attach them in the assistant you use, then paste the prompt. Its answer is its own reading of the data.

  1. 1Download core-crown-expenses.csv
  2. 2Attach it in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or another assistant
  3. 3
    Paste this prompt

    The attached CSV is government spending, from The Treasury (New Zealand). Describe how each measure has changed, naming its unit and period. Treat changes in basis and missing periods as breaks. Do not infer causation from government terms. Read the limits before comparing. Supporting datasets: core-crown-expenses, core-crown-expenses-by-function, government-finances-real.

Questions about spending in NZ

Short answers with their definitions, sources and limits.

How much does the government spend?How much does the government spend per person?What does the government spend the most on?

Related NZ data

These topics put spending alongside other measures.

Waiting times: HealthBenefits: Jobs and welfare

Spending: sources

The source publication, licence and snapshot used to build this page.

Organisation
The Treasury (New Zealand), Fiscal Time Series – Historical Fiscal Indicators
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: The Treasury, Fiscal Time Series – Historical Fiscal Indicators, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Figures transformed and calculated by NZ in Numbers.
Reuse limits
Treasury logos, emblems, trade marks and website design are not covered and must not be reused.
Snapshot
data/raw/treasury-hfi/2026-10-10_de59f9028a81.xlsx
SHA256
de59f9028a81a697ee66eea04861edfd8e2c3a7e472b3b8798d976951964f70f
Retrieved
10 October 2026

Spending: sources

The source publication, licence and snapshot used to build this page.

Organisation
The Treasury (New Zealand), Fiscal Time Series – Historical Fiscal Indicators
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: The Treasury, Fiscal Time Series – Historical Fiscal Indicators, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Figures transformed and calculated by NZ in Numbers.
Reuse limits
Treasury logos, emblems, trade marks and website design are not covered and must not be reused.
Snapshot
data/raw/treasury-hfi/2026-10-10_de59f9028a81.xlsx
SHA256
de59f9028a81a697ee66eea04861edfd8e2c3a7e472b3b8798d976951964f70f
Retrieved
10 October 2026

Spending: sources

The source publication, licence and snapshot used to build this page.

Calculated by NZ in Numbers from Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, Consumers price index (quarterly); The Treasury (New Zealand), Fiscal Time Series – Historical Fiscal Indicators.

Organisation
Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa and The Treasury (New Zealand); NZ in Numbers calculation, NZ in Numbers calculation
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Calculated by NZ in Numbers from the source datasets listed; please also credit those sources.
Snapshot
SHA256
c0ff485ccc6051481f8e0c77b4865ac41becf926e6dbe6dbd9dc2cb5f9d1eec7
Retrieved
10 October 2026
Formula
Real value = nominal value × average CPI of the latest fiscal year ÷ average CPI of the four quarters in each fiscal year
Inputs
  • consumers-price-index, CPIQ.SE9A. Source: Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, Consumers price index (quarterly). Content hash: 1fafdea586b393055f4b864fcac323d1a4e37979d7302156a5962f95b50bc886.
  • core-crown-revenue, core-crown-revenue.nzd-m. Source: The Treasury (New Zealand), Fiscal Time Series – Historical Fiscal Indicators. Content hash: 8d22731d6054aa2ac2ec8f3fdb3dbb63f45a9e44f06b900db162389ae1af62ed.
  • core-crown-tax-revenue, core-crown-tax-revenue.nzd-m. Source: The Treasury (New Zealand), Fiscal Time Series – Historical Fiscal Indicators. Content hash: 89c761693e9cfaa9e97c530b8c8616802fb5dffb25f003910c65c720b1a41f90.
  • core-crown-expenses, core-crown-expenses.nzd-m. Source: The Treasury (New Zealand), Fiscal Time Series – Historical Fiscal Indicators. Content hash: b370468849b560f610e3b3661752f4a4dc61ff1741d62246b4e603d0ccd02af0.