New Zealand
NZ desk: New Zealand first; Australia, United States, United Kingdom, euro area, Korea and Taiwan alongside.
−0.20 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 70.35% |
| 2024 | 70.55% |
| 2023 | 71.50% |
| 2022 | 70.93% |
| 2021 | 70.40% |
| 2020 | 69.86% |
| 2019 | 70.17% |
| 2018 | 70.51% |
| 2017 | 70.48% |
| 2016 | 69.55% |
| 2015 | 68.40% |
| 2014 | 68.31% |
| 2013 | 67.41% |
| 2012 | 67.64% |
| 2011 | 67.90% |
| 2010 | 67.54% |
| 2009 | 67.75% |
| 2008 | 67.97% |
| 2007 | 68.01% |
| 2006 | 67.74% |
| 2005 | 67.19% |
| 2004 | 66.43% |
| 2003 | 65.83% |
| 2002 | 66.04% |
Labour force participation is the share of people ages 15 and over who are employed or unemployed (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). It is not the unemployment rate. Latest: 70.35% in 2025.
A falling unemployment rate can coincide with people leaving the labour force. This series is the usual check. From 1990 to 2025 (36 years): mean 67.19%, median 67.59%; low 62.87% (1993), high 71.50% (2023).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the labour-force participation rate for people aged 15 and over: the share who are either employed or unemployed and looking for work. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It measures who is in the labour market, not what they earn, and it is not the same as the employment ratio: unemployed people count in the numerator here but not there.
Participation reflects retirement ages, education, caring responsibilities and social norms as well as job availability, so levels differ for reasons that have little to do with the unemployment rate. The series is modelled from national surveys and censuses and is revised periodically. Use the chart and range buttons to follow one economy and the ranked ledger to compare latest published years. Treat small cross-country gaps with caution, because the estimate carries uncertainty where survey coverage is thin. A fall can mean people left the labour force rather than lost work, so read it with the unemployment rate.
The New Zealand desk places New Zealand first and shows Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, the euro area, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore alongside it, where the source covers them. It republishes the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates as the all-countries pages, filtered to this set, and does not recalculate the values. Taiwan carries a value only on the headline unemployment page, from the IMF World Economic Outlook, because the World Bank does not publish a Taiwanese rate.
Use the Country selector to switch desks, the Chart and Table tabs for the same values in two forms, and the range buttons to change the period. Each page names its indicator, source and licence. Australia and New Zealand publish separate national series in the World Bank collection, so their paths can diverge even though the two economies are neighbours. No value is estimated beyond what the source publishes.