Disability statistics provide a picture of disability in the New Zealand household population, including disability prevalence and the outcomes and experiences of disabled people.
Disability statistics: 2023 presents data from the 2023 Household Disability Survey (HDS).
About the data has basic information about the data collected in the HDS.
Household Disability Survey 2023 - findings, definitions, and design summary has more detailed information about disability prevalence and the survey's methods and design.
Estimates from the 2023 HDS can't be compared with estimates from previous disability surveys run by Stats NZ due to changes in the way disabled people were identified. The 2023 HDS used questions based on those developed by the Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG). The WG's work is supported by the United Nations Statistical Commission to improve statistics about disabled people. Shorter versions of the WG question sets are used in other social surveys in New Zealand. This is the first time the HDS has identified disabled people with questions based on those developed by the WG, which means that results can't be compared with those from previous disability surveys. For more information, see Household Disability Survey 2023 - findings, definitions, and design summary.
Key facts
Disability rates were higher for females, older people, Māori, and LGBTIQ+
In 2023, an estimated 17 percent of people living in New Zealand households were identified as disabled - a total of 851,000 people. Among those identified, some population groups were more likely to be disabled than others.
The female disability rate was 18 percent, while the male rate was 15 percent. This difference of 3 percentage points equated to 89,000 more disabled females than males. Females were more likely to be disabled at all stages of life, except for childhood.
One in 10 children were identified as disabled (10 percent), and the rate of disability increased with age for adults:
- 10 percent of children (0 to 14 years) were disabled.
- 12 percent of adults aged 15 to 44 years were disabled.
- 17 percent of adults aged 45 to 64 years were disabled.
- 35 percent of adults aged 65 and over were disabled.
Just over 1 in 5 Māori were disabled (21 percent). The Māori disability rate was higher than the national rate and the rate for all other ethnic groups. For Māori children, the rate was 14 percent (higher than the national rate of 10 percent), and for Māori adults it was 24 percent (higher than the national rate of 18 percent).
People in the LGBTIQ+ (Rainbow) population were more likely to be disabled (29 percent) than those in the non-LGBTIQ+ population (17 percent).
Māori and LGBTIQ+ populations had higher rates of disability, despite both groups being younger on average than the total population.
Household Disability Survey 2023 - findings, definitions, and design summary has more detail on disability rates, including age-adjusted rates.
Disabled adults were more likely to have poor wellbeing outcomes
Disabled adults (15 years and over) were more likely than non-disabled adults to report:
- self-assessed health that wasn't good, very good, or excellent - 39 percent of disabled adults compared with 6 percent of non-disabled adults
- a self-assessed life satisfaction score of 0 to 6 out of 10 - 32 percent compared with 10 percent
- not having enough contact with family who they don't live with - 27 percent compared with 21 percent
- not having enough contact with friends who they don't live with - 27 percent compared with 21 percent
- a family wellbeing score of 0 to 6 out of 10 - 26 percent compared with 13 percent
- having experienced discrimination in the last 12 months - 21 percent compared with 14 percent
- having felt lonely all or most of the time - 9 percent compared with 2 percent
- that it wouldn't be easy to find someone to talk to if they felt down - 9 percent compared with 3 percent.
Higher levels of income inadequacy among disabled people
Over half of disabled people (53 percent) did not have enough income to meet basic needs or had only just enough. This is in contrast with 33 percent of non-disabled people. 'Basic needs' includes things like food, clothing, and housing.
Findings from the Household Economic Survey (HES) showed disabled children were more likely than non-disabled children to live in material hardship or in a low-income household.
Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2024 has data on disabled children and children living in a household with a disabled person.
| Income adequacy | Disabled |
| Not enough income | 17 |
| Only just enough income | 36 |
| Enough income | 35 |
| More than enough income | 12 |
| 15.5 | 18.5 |
|---|---|
| 33.9 | 38.1 |
| 32.7 | 37.3 |
| 10.5 | 13.5 |
| Income adequacy | Non-disabled |
| Not enough income | 7 |
| Only just enough income | 26 |
| Enough income | 44 |
| More than enough income | 23 |
| 6.6 | 7.4 |
|---|---|
| 25 | 27 |
| 43 | 45 |
| 22.2 | 23.8 |
Disabled people were more likely to live in lower-quality housing
Disabled people were more likely than non-disabled people to experience each of the following aspects of low-quality housing:
- 29 percent of disabled people lived in a home that, in winter, was colder than they'd like either often or very often, compared with 19 percent of non-disabled people.
- 25 percent of disabled people lived in a house that was always or sometimes damp, compared with 20 percent of non-disabled people.
- 24 percent of disabled people lived in a home that needed major repairs or maintenance, compared with 14 percent of non-disabled people.
- 23 percent of disabled people lived in a house that wasn't the right size for the people living in it (either too big or too small), compared with 18 percent of non-disabled people.
- 20 percent of disabled people lived in a house that always or sometimes had mould (of at least the size of A4 paper), compared with 16 percent of non-disabled people.
- 9 percent of disabled people lived in a house that was in poor or very poor condition, which was double the rate for non-disabled people (4 percent).
Disabled adults were more likely than non-disabled adults to feel unsafe
When compared with non-disabled adults, a greater proportion of disabled adults reported feeling unsafe in each of the five key situations asked about in the HDS.
The two situations with the highest proportion of disabled adults feeling unsafe were:
- being alone in their neighbourhood after dark (32 percent)
- using or waiting for public transport (17 percent).
The proportion of disabled adults feeling unsafe was at least double the rate for non-disabled people in three situations, and almost double in the other two.
| Situation | Disabled |
| At home alone during the day | 4 |
| At home alone at night | 11 |
| Out in their neighbourhood alone during the day | 8 |
| Out in their neighbourhood alone at night | 32 |
| Using or waiting for public transport | 17 |
| 3.1 | 4.9 |
|---|---|
| 9.4 | 12.6 |
| 6.6 | 9.4 |
| 29.5 | 34.5 |
| 12.8 | 21.2 |
| Situation | Non-disabled |
| At home alone during the day | 1 |
| At home alone at night | 5 |
| Out in their neighbourhood alone during the day | 2 |
| Out in their neighbourhood alone at night | 18 |
| Using or waiting for public transport | 9 |
| 0.7 | 1.3 |
|---|---|
| 4.5 | 5.5 |
| 1.7 | 2.3 |
| 17 | 19 |
| 7.5 | 10.5 |
3 out of 5 disabled people had unmet needs
The 2023 HDS asked about unmet need in several areas of life and found that disabled people had an unmet need for:
- support or accommodations at school - 51 percent of disabled people enrolled at school (48,000 people)
- support or accommodations in post-school education - 34 percent of disabled people enrolled at a post-school education provider like a university or polytech (35,000)
- support or accommodations at work - 34 percent of disabled people with a paid job (97,000)
- a health professional - 29 percent of all disabled people (245,000)
- assistive equipment or technology - 28 percent of all disabled people (212,000)
- household or personal support - 17 percent of all disabled people (146,000)
- medication - 14 percent of all disabled people (115,000)
- accessibility modifications to their home - 12 percent of all disabled people (104,000).
In total, 62 percent of disabled people had an unmet need for at least one of the eight things asked about.
Disabled people need more care and support has more information on unmet need.
Disabled people typically saw several types of health professionals in a year, but unmet need still existed
Almost all disabled people (98 percent) had seen at least one healthcare professional in the last 12 months. It was very common for disabled people to access several different types of health care. In the last 12 months:
- 85 percent of disabled people saw three or more different types of health professionals
- 48 percent saw five or more
- 11 percent saw seven or more.
'Different types of health professionals' means different types of health care, not separate visits. For example, two visits to a GP would only be counted as seeing one type of health professional, even if the person changed to a new GP.
GPs were, by far, the most common type of health professional seen by disabled people, with 91 percent of disabled people having seen a GP in the last 12 months. Many also saw pharmacists and nurses working at a medical centre (78 and 64 percent respectively). Mental health professionals were one of the least accessed (23 percent).
| Type of health professional | Percent |
| GP | 91 |
| Pharmacist | 78 |
| Nurse at medical centre | 64 |
| Medical specialist | 46 |
| Dentist or oral health professional | 46 |
| Well Child Tamariki Ora nurse | 44 |
| Optometrist or eye health professional | 39 |
| "Physiotherapist | 28 |
| occupational therapist | 23 |
| or speech-language therapist" | 19 |
| Mental health professional | |
| Other health professional |
| 89.8 | 92.2 |
|---|---|
| 76.3 | 79.7 |
| 61.8 | 66.2 |
| 43.9 | 48.1 |
| 44.1 | 47.9 |
| 35.9 | 52.1 |
| 36.9 | 41.1 |
| 26.2 | 29.8 |
| 21.5 | 24.5 |
| 17.4 | 20.6 |
A total of 245,000 disabled people were unable to see a health professional when they needed to at least once in the last 12 months (29 percent of all disabled people). Tangata Whaikaha Māori (Māori disabled people) had higher-than-average rates of unmet need for health professionals (37 percent).
While mental health professionals were among the least accessed health professionals, they were in the top three for unmet need. A total of 34,000 disabled people had an unmet need for mental health professionals. Also in the top three were medical specialists, with a similar number of disabled people having an unmet need for them (42,000), and GPs. The greatest unmet need lay with GPs, with 164,000 disabled people unable to see a GP when they needed to.
Most disabled people used assistive equipment or technology, but unmet need still existed
Three out of 5 disabled people (62 percent) used assistive equipment or technology. Assistive equipment or technology is any product that improves functioning and daily living for a disabled person; it doesn't need to be specifically designed for disabled people or accessibility. Some subgroups of disabled people were more likely to use assistive equipment or technology than others:
- disabled females were more likely than disabled males (64 and 59 percent respectively)
- disabled adults were more likely than disabled children (64 and 46 percent respectively)
- LGBTIQ+ disabled people were more likely than non-LGBTIQ+ disabled people (77 and 63 percent respectively).
Just over one-quarter (28 percent) of disabled people had an unmet need for assistive equipment or technology. This equated to 212,000 people. Māori and Pacific disabled people were more likely than average to have unmet needs for assistive equipment or technology (36 and 38 percent respectively).
The main reason given by disabled people for this unmet need was cost, or not being eligible for funding. Of those with an unmet need for assistive equipment or technology, 62 percent gave this reason (121,000 disabled people).
Interruptions to learning for disabled people at school
Almost one-quarter (24 percent) of disabled people in school education had, at some point in their schooling, been unable to attend for several weeks because of health issues, and 12 percent had been unable attend for several weeks because of inadequate support at school. Twelve percent had been stood down or formally removed from school, and 16 percent had had to change schools for reasons related to their health or disability.
While attending school, disabled people were often unable to participate fully due to difficulties with:
- being bullied - 62 percent
- making friends - 46 percent
- taking part in sports or games - 38 percent
- being included in group activities - 36 percent
- going to school events or outings - 28 percent.
Factors that would help disabled people find a paid job
Fifty-six percent of disabled adults aged 15 to 64 years had a paid job, compared with 82 percent of non-disabled adults in this age range. Job satisfaction was lower among disabled adults, with 12 percent of employed disabled adults giving a low job satisfaction rating (a rating of 1 or 2 out of 5), compared with 4 percent of non-disabled adults.
Of the disabled adults aged 15 to 64 years who did not have a paid job, 72 percent (144,000 people) wanted one. When asked which of seven specific factors might help them find a job:
- 77 percent of unemployed disabled adults aged 15 to 64 years said flexible work arrangements would help
- 68 percent said more positive attitudes towards disabled people and people with conditions or health problems
- 64 percent said more training, qualifications, or skills
- 60 percent said support or help at work
- 50 percent said help finding and applying for a suitable job
- 49 percent said suitable transport to and from work
- 43 percent said the availability of assistive equipment or technology (eg, modified tools or special seating).
About the data
Disability statistics: 2023 presents data from the 2023 Household Disability Survey (HDS).
Estimates from the 2023 HDS are not comparable with those from previous disability surveys run by Stats NZ due to substantial changes in the way disabled people were identified. Changes include the types of functional difficulty asked about in the survey, the levels of difficulty that respondents could report, and the threshold for being counted as disabled. For more information, see Household Disability Survey 2023 - findings, definitions, and design summary.
In the HDS, children were defined as being 14 years or younger. Adults were 15 years or older.
Unmet need was self-assessed.
HDS data is only representative of people living in households. 'Households' refers to people who live alone or with others in either private dwellings or community-based residential care facilities (these are living arrangements where people are supported to live in the community). The HDS did not survey people living in aged-care facilities and long-stay hospitals or in other non-private dwellings (eg, hotels, university halls, and prisons). For more about dwelling types, see Census Dwelling Type Classification.
The HDS collected gender, rather than sex, in alignment with the Data standard for gender, sex, and variations of sex characteristics.
Survey respondents could report a gender other than male or female. However, estimates for people who reported another gender are not be published due to very small sample sizes.
The LGBTIQ+ population includes people aged 15 years or over who reported either:
- a gender that was not male or female
- a sexual identity that was homosexual, bisexual, or another identity that was not heterosexual (straight)
- a gender that was different to what was recorded for their sex at birth
- a variation of sex characteristics (innate genetic, hormonal, or physical sex characteristics that do not conform to medical norms for female or male bodies).
Percentages are calculated using unrounded counts and exclude residual responses (as in, 'don't know' or 'refused'). Some results may differ slightly from summing together the rounded figures in the published tables.
Definitions and metadata
Household Disability Survey 2023 - findings, definitions, and design summary provides definitions of terms used in the HDS and information about the survey's design.
Technical enquiries
Katy Auberson
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ISBN 978-1-991307-49-1
