Severe housing deprivation (homelessness) estimates - updated methodology: 2023 Census describes the method used to produce the 2023 severe housing deprivation estimates and includes 2018 comparison figures. They are considered estimates because they are constructed from a combination of variables rather than being counted from a single direct question to individuals in the census. The severe housing deprivation estimates are considered the best point-in-time estimates of the number of people who are homeless in Aotearoa New Zealand, and their characteristics.
2023 Census severe housing deprivation (homelessness) estimates describes the results of the 2023 severe housing deprivation estimates.
Aotearoa Data Explorer has tables of the 2023 severe housing deprivation estimates.
Download the PDF of the full paper below.
Summary of key points
The 2023 Census included an improved collection strategy among those who might be vulnerable to living in homelessness, including:
- those living in emergency and transitional housing
- those using temporary dwellings or a shelter that is not a private dwelling
- better matching of dwelling, household, and family structures with individuals
- roofless or rough sleepers.
Despite these improvements, the estimates of those in severe housing deprivation are still likely to be undercounts. Over 355,000 people are included in the 'cannot be determined' category for homelessness, down from over 457,000 people in 2018. Most are people who were counted using admin data and for whom we had enough information to place them in a meshblock but not enough information to place into a dwelling.
Technical enquiries
Miranda Devlin
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ISBN 978-1-991307-36-1
