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This page summarises the downloadable PDF documents. If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of the PDF documents in a more accessible format, please email [email protected].

Introduction

The Infometrics sector profiles 2023 provide data on a range of employment, business and productivity characteristics for the arts and creative sector.

Each profile reports annual data to 31 March of the prior year. The latest annual data (excluding forecasts) is to March 2023.

  • One-page summary of 2023 economic profiles
  • Arts and Creative Sector
  • Arts and Creative Sector – Māori
  • Arts Sector
  • Media and Broadcasting Sector

Highlights

  • New Zealand’s arts and creative sector contributed $16.3 billion to New Zealand’s GDP, or 4.3% of the total economy, in the year to March 2023.
  • The data shows that the cultural sector’s GDP contribution grew by 5.3% over the past year, compared to 2.9% growth for the rest of the economy. This follows the 11.1% growth in 2022.
  • For some parts of the sector, GDP growth was even higher – 6.5% for the Māori Arts and Creative sub-sector, and 9.2% for the Arts sub-sector.
  • In the year to March 2023, productivity (measured as GDP per FTE) in the Arts and Creative sector grew by 1.7% to $155,539. Over the past five years (2018-2023), productivity has grown by 3% per annum on average, where the total economy has remained relatively flat (0.2%).
  • More than 117,000 people held primary employment in the arts and creative sector in the year to March 2023. Within this workforce, just over 11,000 identify as Māori.

Refer to the 1 page summary and individual report documents for more detail.

About the profiles

Since 2020, Manatū Taonga has measured the economic characteristics of the arts and creative sector using custom profiles of business and employment data supplied by Infometrics Ltd. These profiles more closely represent the sector than the standard StatsNZ Arts and Recreation profile.

The profiles use government employment and business data using standard occupation (ANZSCO) and industry (ANZSIC) codes. Manatū Taonga has used a combination of industries and occupations to define and better represent the sector.

In addition to the main Arts and Creative sector profile, which looks across all of arts, culture, heritage and media and broadcasting, there are three sub-profiles:

  • Arts and Creative – Māori
  • Arts only
  • Media and Broadcasting only

Summary of key data

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Overall, the sector’s GDP contribution was $16.3 billion or 4.3% of New Zealand’s total GDP. This is growth of 5.3% from the year prior compared to 2.9% for the total economy. This follows the 11.1% growth in 2022.

For some parts of the sector, GDP growth was even higher – 6.5% for the Māori Arts and Creative sub-sector, and 9.2% for the Arts sub-sector.

The Media and Broadcasting sub-sector experienced slower GDP growth (4.5%) than the rest of the Arts and Creative sector (5.3%), though it was still at a higher rate than the rest of the economy (2.9%).

In the year to March 2023, productivity (measured as GDP per FTE) in the Arts and Creative sector grew by 1.7% to $155,539. Over the past five years (2018-2023), productivity has grown by 3% per annum on average, where the total economy has remained relatively flat (0.2%).

Employment and businesses

Primary employment in the Arts and Creative sector grew by 2.8% in the year to March 2023 to 117,517 filled jobs, compared to 2.4% growth for the total economy.  

Employment and business growth is relatively consistent across the Arts and Creative sector, though slower in the Media and Broadcasting sub-sector (see table below):

% Growth in employment from prior year
(to March 2022)

Sector profileNumber of filled jobs- Year to March 2023% Growth in employment from prior year
(to March 2022)		Number of businesses% Growth in businesses from prior year
(to March 2022)
Arts & Creative117,5172.8%37,1573.1%
Arts & Creative- Māori11,3453.1%3,4673.1%
Arts28,2683.0%11,1993.9%
Media & Broadcasting25,3981.9%8,0612.0%
Total economy2,753,6012.4%641,5291.7%

Primary employment in the Arts and Creative sector is forecast to grow by almost 11,000 new jobs over the next five years. This figure considers the broader economic outlook, with slower growth anticipated in 2025 than subsequent years.
Self-employment remains very high in the Arts and Creative sector at 31%, compared to 15.9% for the total economy.

Please note the demographic data for workers within the Arts and Creative sector (e.g., age, ethnicity) contained within the reports is still based on 2018 Census data. It is expected to be updated once the 2023 Census data is released by Stats NZ. 

Regional differences

Auckland continues to be the home of the bulk of the creative sector, responsible for $7.9 billion of the Arts and Creative sector’s GDP contribution, 44% of employment (almost 52,000 jobs), and 43% of businesses (just over 16,000 businesses). 

Wellington (almost 18,000 filled jobs) and Canterbury (almost 13,000 filled jobs) have the next highest proportion of creative workers.

What regions do people work in?

Map showing percentages in each region as described in the preceding text
Regions that people in the creative sector work. 
Image description: Map titled 'What regions do people work in?' showing regional breakdown of employment (number of filled jobs and % of total).
Auckland: 51,968 (44.2%);
Bay of Plenty:  5,406 (4.6%);
Waikato: 7,109 (6%);
Wellington: 17,950 (15.3%);
Rest of North Island: 11,488 (9.7%);
Canterbury: 12,994 (11.1%);
Otago: 5,900 (5%);
Rest of South Island: 4,707 (4.1%). 

For more information, please contact our Research & Evaluation team at [email protected].