How many people are on a benefit?
The number of people aged 18 to 64 receiving a main benefit at quarter end was 413,691 (Ministry of Social Development (MSD), Jun 2026 qtr).
Updated
The number of working-age people (18–64) receiving a main benefit at the end of each quarter, by benefit type: Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent Support, Supported Living Payment and other main benefits. Quarterly from June 2012.
Counts people receiving a benefit, not unemployment: many beneficiaries are not expected to look for work (e.g. people with serious health conditions or caring responsibilities). Other main benefits spikes every December quarter as students receive Jobseeker Support Student Hardship over summer; compare like quarters (e.g. June with June).
Employment, pay and benefit figures cover different groups. Average hourly earnings summarise paid work, while unemployment uses the labour force definition and benefit counts use eligibility rules. Read those definitions before comparing the measures.
Read the period beside each number before comparing it with another figure. A monthly observation, a quarterly result and a financial year cover different spans of time. The latest release can also revise earlier observations. The chart and downloads keep the published periods so you can check which figures are being compared. A change in benefits describes what happened during that period; it does not by itself explain why it happened or identify the effect of a government policy. Definitions and coverage matter as much as the size of a change.
All working-age main benefits was 406,128 in Jun 2025 qtr, a year earlier.
The earliest observation on the same basis was 320,041 in Jun 2012 qtr.
Benefits: definitions
The number of working-age people (18–64) receiving a main benefit at the end of each quarter, by benefit type: Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent Support, Supported Living Payment and other main benefits. Quarterly from June 2012.
- Counts people receiving a benefit, not unemployment: many beneficiaries are not expected to look for work (e.g. people with serious health conditions or caring responsibilities).
- Other main benefits spikes every December quarter as students receive Jobseeker Support Student Hardship over summer; compare like quarters (e.g. June with June).
- Excludes NZ Superannuation and Veteran's Pension.
- Categories changed with the July 2013 welfare reform; MSD restated figures back to June 2012 but not earlier.
Show the figures
| Period | All working-age main benefits (number) |
|---|---|
| Jun 2026 qtr | 413,691 |
| Mar 2026 qtr | 409,575 |
| Dec 2025 qtr | 427,236 |
| Sep 2025 qtr | 410,328 |
| Jun 2025 qtr | 406,128 |
| Mar 2025 qtr | 398,163 |
| Dec 2024 qtr | 409,665 |
| Sep 2024 qtr | 391,224 |
| Jun 2024 qtr | 380,889 |
| Mar 2024 qtr | 370,251 |
| Dec 2023 qtr | 378,711 |
| Sep 2023 qtr | 362,094 |
| Jun 2023 qtr | 351,759 |
| Mar 2023 qtr | 345,417 |
| Dec 2022 qtr | 353,904 |
| Sep 2022 qtr | 345,762 |
| Jun 2022 qtr | 344,622 |
| Mar 2022 qtr | 348,339 |
| Dec 2021 qtr | 368,172 |
| Sep 2021 qtr | 359,493 |
Number of people receiving the benefit at the end of each quarter.. Source: Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Lines break at basis changes and missing periods.
Benefits: questions for your AI
Download the data, attach it in your assistant, then paste the prompt.
The attached CSV is People receiving a main benefit, from Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Answer: How many people are on a benefit? Name the unit and period. Use only directly supported observations. Definitions: The number of working-age people (18–64) receiving a main benefit at the end of each quarter, by benefit type: Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent Support, Supported Living Payment and other main benefits. Quarterly from June 2012. Limits: Counts people receiving a benefit, not unemployment: many beneficiaries are not expected to look for work (e.g. people with serious health conditions or caring responsibilities). Other main benefits spikes every December quarter as students receive Jobseeker Support Student Hardship over summer; compare like quarters (e.g. June with June). Excludes NZ Superannuation and Veteran's Pension. Categories changed with the July 2013 welfare reform; MSD restated figures back to June 2012 but not earlier.
More questions about benefits
Other questions this topic can answer directly.
Benefits: sources
The source publication, licence and snapshot used to build this page.
- Organisation
- Ministry of Social Development (MSD), Benefit fact sheets: national benefit tables
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Ministry of Social Development, Benefit fact sheets, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Figures compiled across releases by NZ in Numbers.
- Reuse limits
- Logos, emblems, trade marks, photography, imagery and website design elements are not covered.
- Snapshot
- data/raw/msd-benefits/2026-10-10_90cd8e7c8ff2.xlsx
- SHA256
- 90cd8e7c8ff210ca9334eb035dfef3a39abdefe10365e5f7a6ccbd4291248f74
- Retrieved
- 10 October 2026