Most New Zealanders are in good health, the latest results from the annual New Zealand Health Survey show.
The Ministry of Health has published results from the 2024/25 New Zealand Health Survey today, providing valuable information about the health and wellbeing of adults and children in New Zealand.
Data collection for the survey was completed between July 2024 and July 2025, with a sample size of 9,253 adults and 2,805 children.
‘The survey supports the Ministry of Health’s work as the lead adviser to the Government on health, helping us ensure the health system is delivering to meet the current and future needs of New Zealanders,’ says Andy Bartle, Group Manager, Data Analytics and Surveys.
The survey captures information about a range of health topics, such as access to health services, alcohol use, vaping and smoking, mental health, nutrition and physical activity.
‘The data supports us to monitor trends, identify challenges, and inform our work to improve New Zealanders’ health outcomes,’ Mr Bartle says.
‘We should be encouraged that the long-term trends are positive for aspects of New Zealanders’ health. For instance, rates of smoking and hazardous drinking have declined over time. We know there are areas where further work is needed, and the data in this survey informs the delivery of health services.’
The topics being published for 2024/25 are similar to previous years. The key findings include:
- Most New Zealanders are in good health, with 86.6% of adults reporting their health was good, very good or excellent. Nearly all children (97.5%) were in good health, according to their parent or caregiver.
- Most adults reported high or very high levels of life satisfaction (83.3%), and high or very high levels of family wellbeing (83.2%).
- About three out of four adults (76.9%) reported their oral health to be good, very good, or excellent. Nearly all children (91.6%) had their oral health rated as good, very good, or excellent by their parent or caregiver.
- Rates of smoking remain low. 6.8% of adults were daily smokers in 2024/25, a similar rate to the previous year (6.9%) but a decrease from 11.9% five years earlier (2019/20).
- 11.7% of adults were daily vapers in 2024/25, similar to the previous year (11.1%) but up from 3.5% in 2019/20.
- New Zealanders have lower rates of hazardous drinking than they did five years ago. The rate of hazardous drinking was 16.6% in 2024/25, down from 21.3% in 2019/20.
- One in seven adults (14.3%) reported experiencing high or very high levels of psychological distress in the four weeks prior to the 2024/25 survey, which is similar to the previous year (13.1%) but up from 7.4% in 2019/20.
- Fewer than half of adults (46.2%) meet physical activity guidelines, which recommend doing at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity activity in the past week, spread out over the week.
- About one in three children aged 6 months to 14 years (31.8%) met recreational screen time guidelines in 2024/25, similar to five years ago (34.1%). The survey does not ask about the types of screens used.
- One in five children (21.4%) lived in households where food ran out often or sometimes in the 12 months prior to the 2024/25 survey.
- Visits to a GP and emergency departments have remained stable over the past year. Three out of four adults (76.2%) and two out of three children (67.1%) reported visiting a GP in the 12 months prior to the 2024/25 survey. One in four adults (25.5%) reported ‘time taken to get an appointment too long’ as a barrier to visiting a GP in the previous 12 months, and the same barrier was reported for one in five children (19.5%).
- About one in five children (19.1%) and one in six adults (17.1%) visited an emergency department at least once in the 12 months before the 2024/25 survey.
- 27.5% of adults reported chronic pain in 2024/25. A new internationally recognised definition of chronic pain was used in the latest survey.
