Disability in Aotearoa New Zealand
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This section summarises the findings of the Household Disability Survey, undertaken by Statistics New Zealand in 2023 and published in 2025.
The survey is a key source of disability data, collecting information about the experiences and needs of disabled people across Aotearoa New Zealand.
For more information, see the 2023 Household Disability Survey from Statistics New Zealand, or read the brief summary below.
About 17% of the population in Aotearoa New Zealand identifies as disabled
There are 851,000 people living in New Zealand households who are disabled, including:
753,000 adults (aged 15 years and over)
98,000 children (aged 0-14).
This represents 1 in 6 New Zealanders.
As you read the survey results, it’s useful to note that:
Māori people experience disability at a much higher rate than the overall New Zealand population, at 32% (or almost 1 in 3).
Source: Disability Support Services, part of the Ministry of Social Development.
Summary of the survey findings
This short summary of the Household Disability Survey 2023 findings has been sourced from Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People.
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About 49% of people who identify as disabled have more than one disability, experiencing difficulty in multiple domains.
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Disability is more prevalent:
in older people aged 65 and over (at 35%, compared with the national rate of disability at 17%) and
in the LGBTIQ+ (Rainbow) community, at 29% of that community compared with the national rate of disability at 17%.
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Over 60% of disabled people have unmet needs.
Data from the survey shows that disabled people had unmet needs across several key areas, including for:
supports and accommodations
access to health professionals
assistive equipment or technology
household or personal support
medications.
with 62 percent of disabled people reporting at least one unmet need.
For more information about disabled people’s unmet needs, please visit the Statistics New Zealand news story Disabled people need more care and support. It’s available in braille, EasyRead, large print and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL).
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The data shows that two percent of New Zealanders aged 5 years and over have been diagnosed with autism, including 48,000 males (2 percent) and 22,000 females
(1 percent).Children (aged 5-14 years) were more likely to have an autism diagnosis than adults (3 percent and 1 percent respectively).
Of those diagnosed with autism, 70% were also identified as disabled.
A slightly higher rate (3 percent) of people (aged 5 years and over) had been diagnosed with ADHD.
This was also more common amongst males (3 percent) than females (2 percent), and amongst children (4 percent) than adults (2 percent).
Just over half (52 percent) of people diagnosed with ADHD were also identified as disabled in the survey.
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Although many disabled people report that they’re living good lives, evidence shows that disabled people continue to have poorer outcomes than non-disabled people in many areas of their lives, including:
health and wellbeing
housing
education
employment
income.
For example, when compared with non-disabled people, more disabled people:Described their health as fair or poor (39% compared with 6%)
reported having not enough or only just had enough income to meet basic needs (53% compared with 33%)
lived in a home that wasn’t the right size for the people living in it (23% compared with 18%).
On 27 February 2025, the Chief Executive of Whaikaha (the Ministry of Disabled People) noted that these statistics:
“… highlight both critical challenges and big opportunities to make a difference”.
The percentage of the Australian population that identifies as disabled (at 18%) is very similar to New Zealand’s (at 17%). This Australian video helps to put a human face on these statistics.
This animated video brings Australia’s similar disability statistics into reality, by comparing the life experience of disabled people and the non-disabled community.
Produced by the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit (DARU), Australia, 2022.