Te Ōhanga Māori - The Māori Economy Reports
Māori Economy Reports dating back to 2010
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Te Ōhanga Māori 2010 – The Māori Economy 2010
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In 2012, BERL developed and published the Asset Base, Income, Expenditure and GDP of the 2010 Māori Economy report, the first report that would become a decade long research programme.
This report estimated the size of the Māori economy and demonstrated the relationships between the Māori economy and the wider New Zealand economy. In 2015, BERL updated and expanded the evidence base on the Māori economy and published Te Ōhanga Māori 2013 - The Māori Economy Report 2013. This report presented an overview of the 2013 Māori economy based on statistical information from a number of sources, but primarily from the 2013 Census.
Te Ōhanga Māori 2013 – The Māori Economy 2013
Te Ōhanga Māori 2013 – The Māori Economy Report 2013(external link)
Te Puni Kōkiri commissioned BERL to conduct the next round of research and draft the report. The authors were Dr Ganesh Nana, Masrur Khan and Hillmarè Schulze, published April 2015.
The headlines of the report were:
GDP from Māori economy producers totalled $11 billion in 2013
- this represents 5.6% of overall GDP from New Zealand economy production
- since 2010 Māori production GDP has increased $720 million, or 7.0% in nominal terms
- adjusting for changes in prices, real growth from 2010 is estimated at 2.6%.
Māori GDP contribution still dominated by the primary sector
- in 2013, the primary sector contributed $1.8 billion (just over 16 percent) to GDP
- followed by $1.3 billion from manufacturing and $670 million from construction sectors
- $1.3 billion from hire and property rental sector; $1.1 billion from professional services sector
- $860 million from education sector and $690 million from health care and social assistance sector.
Māori economy GDP arose from an asset base totalling $42.6 billion
- Māori asset base represents 6.1 percent of the total New Zealand asset base
- the Māori economy asset base has increased $5.7 billion (or 15.4 percent in nominal terms) from $36.9 billion in 2010 to $42.6 billion in 2013
- after adjusting for changes in prices, real growth from 2010 was estimated at 7.2 percent
- at a regional level, the Māori asset base is dominated by $11.4 billion held in Te Puku o Te Ika,
- with $8.9 billion in Tāmaki Makaurau and $7.9 billion in Te Waipounamu
- the 2013 Māori asset base estimate comprises:
- $12.5 billion in Māori trusts, incorporations, and other entities
- $23.4 billion in assets of Māori employers
- $6.6 billion in assets of self-employed Māori.
The net savings position of Māori households has improved
- net savings of Māori households was negative in 2013:
- that is, total expenditure of Māori households was more than their total income
- the shortfall for 2013 was estimated to total $4.0 billion
- however, this was a marked improvement from an estimated $5.5 billion shortfall in 2010, as lower interest rates eased housing costs.
The study confirmed a further expansion of the size of the Māori economy asset base and highlighted the importance that our focus moves away from the value of the assets as a measure of the Māori economic health.
For Māori, the value of asset holdings lies more in the ability to generate higher incomes, more jobs and better outcomes and improved wellbeing for iwi, hapū and whānau Māori.
With the increased potential comes an increased responsibility for Māori to ensure that these assets are utilised productively.
Te Ōhanga Māori 2018 – The Māori Economy 2018
Te Ōhanga Māori 2018 – The Māori Economy 2018(external link)
Released on January 2021, Te Ōhanga Māori 2018 report paints a picture of the Māori economy in 2018, showing far reaching business activities, a diverse asset base and a growing workforce with increasing skills.
This report expands on BERL’s 2013 work by providing a richer description of the many roles Māori play in the economy of New Zealand.
The updated research presents financial measures of the core resources (assets) available to Māori, as well as the flows of income, expenditure, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) received, spent, produced, and delivered by Māori in New Zealand in the 2018 year.
BERL partnered with Te Pūtea Matua – the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to produce the report.
Te Pūtea Matua sponsored this work to continue meeting their mandate. Their mission is to promote the prosperity and wellbeing of New Zealanders and contribute to a sustainable and productive economy. Te Pūtea Matua is also the kaitiaki of New Zealand’s financial system.
The report was a fact-based foundation for economic policy-making for New Zealand’s future.
This report informed and supported iwi, Māori, business and the Government in its decision making about the future development and wellbeing of Māori and New Zealand.
- Among the many key findings of Te Ōhanga Māori 2018 were:
- The Māori population and labour force are growing more rapidly than the general population and it is projected to be a rising proportion of the future workforce;
- The Māori economy’s asset base is now $68.7 billion in value;
- Since 2013 Māori businesses activity has increased in a range of industries, including construction, retail trade, and services such as information media; and
- Access to capital is a barrier for Māori businesses.
The research formed the basis for ongoing engagement over the coming years as Te Pūtea Matua, looks to better understand the perspective of the Māori economy, including the drivers, challenges and opportunities; with a view to incorporating more closely into its core decision-making.
Some of the interesting highlights from the report include:
- The Māori population totalled 775,800 in 2018, an increase of 30 percent since 2013. This included 527,000 Māori of working age (15 years and over), an increase of 33 percent.
- The number of Māori in employment in 2018 totalled 329,200. This is an increase of over 105,200, or 47 percent, since 2013, including a 46 percent increase in the number of Māori employers.
- Māori in business, as either employers or self-employed, are dominated by those in the highest skill category.
- There was a large change in the composition of the population and the labour force of New Zealand between 2013 and 2018. The growth in the number of Māori was significantly greater than the number of non-Māori.
The report was written during the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, providing a snapshot of Māori economic activity just before the pandemic, and expands on BERL’s 2013 work by providing a richer description of the many roles Māori play in the economy of New Zealand.
The report gives us a snapshot of Māori economic activity just before the pandemic. We know already that the health and economic impacts of the pandemic have been, and will continue to be, uneven across society. The 2023 report will expand on these pandemic impacts and issues.
Te Ōhanga Māori 2023 – The Māori Economy 2023
MBIE and BERL look forward to launching and sharing Te Ōhanga Māori 2023 The Māori Economy 2023 in early December 2024. It will present the economic value, significant growth and the powerful force of the Māori economy.
The 2023 report will build on previous work, follow the well-established methodology from Te Ōhanga Māori 2018, and develop the analysis to further enhance and shed light on the information.
The research scope and Māori representation lens will also be widened in the 2023 report, including:
- expanded Māori business information
- enhanced identification of Māori businesses
- in-depth focus on collectives
- comprehensive perspectives of economic outcomes
- a focus on wāhine Māori
- Māori enterprise case studies
- a new section on exports providing sectorial breakdowns
- expanded data sets including updated census and COVID data.