Key notes:
- The 2022 data is for the 9 months to the end of March 2022.
- The Covid response has obviously had a large impact on spending areas.
Key insights:
- Social security & welfare, GSF spending peaked at 13.6-13.8% during 1990-1992 before dropping consistently for 28 years until 2020 when it 13.9%.
- Health spending has rapidly increased in the last two years from 6.3% in 2020 to 7.6% in the 9 months to March 2022.
- Education spending peaked at 6.0% in 2006, 2009, and 2010. It is currently 4.9%.
- Economic & industrial services spending has doubled from 1.3% in 2021 to 2.5% in the March 2022 YTD.
- Law & order spending has been a consistent 1.4-1.6% since 2007.
- Defence spending peaked at 2.0% in 1982 (for this 50-year timeframe). It is currently 0.8%.
- Finance costs peaked at 7.5% in 1988. It is currently less than a tenth of this at 0.7%.
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Other notes:
- The data shows spending as a % of GDP (NOT nominal totals, and not a % of total spending).
- For GDP to March 2022, we used $356.4355 billion, being the average of two figures in the source data:
- “Using the most recently published GDP (for the year ended 31 December 2021) of $350,083 million (Source: Stats NZ).”
- “Using HYEFU 2021 forecast GDP for the year ending 30 June 2022 of $362,788 million (Source: The Treasury).”
- We decided to trial not showing Budget forecast data this time due to a couple of challenges in recent weeks that we are called theFacts, not theForecasts. We look forward to your comments on the best approach.
- The “Other” class includes:
- Heritage, culture, and recreation
- Primary Services
- Housing and community development
- Environmental protection
- Other
- Additional notes from Treasury can be found in the data source pages below.
- All numbers are provisional and subject to revision.
Thank you to the Factors who helped pull this together.
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SOURCES:
1972-2021 = https://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/information-release/data-fiscal-time-series-historical-fiscal-indicators (Excel file > “Spending” worksheet)
2022 = https://www.treasury.govt.nz/system/files/2022-05/fsgnz-9mths-mar22.xlsx (“FI Fun Class” worksheet, and “Commentary – Fiscal Ind” for the GDP figures used)
Data published by The Treasury
(c) Crown Copyright
Licensed for use under the creative commons attribution licence (BY) 4.0
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