Articles

MBIE recently introduced a new series for measuring peak visitor numbers in each region – including peak daytime and peak nighttime visitors. In this article, we dive into the new peak visitor series to see what it can reveal about tourism in your region.

After being squeezed out of the market during the 2010s, first-home buyers are playing an increasingly visible role in New Zealand’s housing market, even as affordability challenges remain significant.

The largest change associated with New Zealand’s ageing population has been growth of the 65-years-and-older age group (65+). Within this group, the older 75-years-and-older (75+) portion is starting to overtake the younger 65-74-year-olds.

The new Incentives for Growth Fund will provide a limited amount of additional funding to local councils, although for many, the additional funding will be limited.

With the release of term 1 of 2026 school attendance data, we look at how attendance has improved in recent years and how the same disparities in attendance across ethnicities, socio-economic deprivation, and regions remain.

The 2026 Election campaign has well and truly kicked off. In the last month, there has been a flurry of party-political announcements.

March quarter transport cost data only captures a small portion of the spike in fuel prices that has occurred due to the Iran War. On average over the quarter, diesel prices were 7.8% higher than in the December 2025 quarter.

New Zealand’s economy continued to recovery solidly at the start of 2026, ahead of the economic storm triggered by the Iran War, according to Infometrics’ latest monitoring of regional economies.

New Zealand’s labour market data is often reduced to a single headline number – the unemployment rate. But that narrow focus risks missing the much broader story playing out beneath the surface.

The pace of supplier cost increases to Foodstuffs supermarkets in April was slightly lower than last month, with the Infometrics-Foodstuffs New Zealand Grocery Supplier Cost Index (GSCI) showing an average 2.0% increase in what suppliers charged in April 2026, compared with a year earlier.