This statistic shows the biggest cities in New Zealand in 2022. In 2022, approximately **** million people lived in Auckland, making it the biggest city in New Zealand.

New Zealand NZ: Population in Largest City data was reported at 1,377,309.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,360,422.000 Person for 2016. New Zealand NZ: Population in Largest City data is updated yearly, averaging 851,045.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,377,309.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 440,164.000 Person in 1960. New Zealand NZ: Population in Largest City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s New Zealand – Table NZ.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; ;

Population in largest city in New Zealand was reported at 1692770 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. New Zealand - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

This statistic depicts the distribution of the major cities to the national GDP in New Zealand in 2015. According to the source, in this year, Auckland contributed with ** percent to the national GDP in New Zealand.

New Zealand NZ: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 33.266 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 33.580 % for 2016. New Zealand NZ: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 30.234 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 34.299 % in 2013 and a record low of 24.415 % in 1961. New Zealand NZ: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s New Zealand – Table NZ.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted Average;

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in New Zealand was reported at 36.41 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. New Zealand - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

In 2019, Auckland was the region which had the highest value of building work in New Zealand, in which there was over 10.4 billion New Zealand dollars worth of building work. Wellington, New Zealand's capital, had approximately only two billion New Zealand dollars worth of building work in comparison. Although Wellington is New Zealand's capital city, Auckland is the most populous city of New Zealand.

Dataset contains ethnic group census usually resident population counts from the 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses, as well as the percentage change in the ethnic group population count between the 2013 and 2018 Censuses, and between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. Data is available by regional council.

The ethnic groups are:

• European
• Māori
• Pacific peoples
• Asian
• Middle Eastern/Latin American/African
• Other ethnicity.

Map shows percentage change in the census usually resident population count for ethnic groups between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses.

Download lookup file from Stats NZ ArcGIS Online or embedded attachment in Stats NZ geographic data service. Download data table (excluding the geometry column for CSV files) using the instructions in the Koordinates help guide.

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Footnotes

Geographical boundaries

Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023 (updated December 2023) has information about geographic boundaries as of 1 January 2023. Address data from 2013 and 2018 Censuses was updated to be consistent with the 2023 areas. Due to the changes in area boundaries and coding methodologies, 2013 and 2018 counts published in 2023 may be slightly different to those published in 2013 or 2018.

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Subnational census usually resident population

The census usually resident population count of an area (subnational count) is a count of all people who usually live in that area and were present in New Zealand on census night. It excludes visitors from overseas, visitors from elsewhere in New Zealand, and residents temporarily overseas on census night. For example, a person who usually lives in Christchurch city and is visiting Wellington city on census night will be included in the census usually resident population count of Christchurch city.

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Caution using time series

Time series data should be interpreted with care due to changes in census methodology and differences in response rates between censuses. The 2023 and 2018 Censuses used a combined census methodology (using census responses and administrative data), while the 2013 Census used a full-field enumeration methodology (with no use of administrative data).

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About the 2023 Census dataset

For information on the 2023 dataset see Using a combined census model for the 2023 Census. We combined data from the census forms with administrative data to create the 2023 Census dataset, which meets Stats NZ's quality criteria for population structure information. We added real data about real people to the dataset where we were confident the people who hadn’t completed a census form (which is known as admin enumeration) will be counted. We also used data from the 2018 and 2013 Censuses, administrative data sources, and statistical imputation methods to fill in some missing characteristics of people and dwellings.

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Data quality

The quality of data in the 2023 Census is assessed using the quality rating scale and the quality assurance framework to determine whether data is fit for purpose and suitable for release. Data quality assurance in the 2023 Census has more information.

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Quality rating of a variable

The quality rating of a variable provides an overall evaluation of data quality for that variable, usually at the highest levels of classification. The quality ratings shown are for the 2023 Census unless stated. There is variability in the quality of data at smaller geographies. Data quality may also vary between censuses, for subpopulations, or when cross tabulated with other variables or at lower levels of the classification. Data quality ratings for 2023 Census variables has more information on quality ratings by variable.

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Ethnicity concept quality rating

Ethnicity is rated as high quality.

Ethnicity – 2023 Census: Information by concept has more information, for example, definitions and data quality.

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Using data for good

Stats NZ expects that, when working with census data, it is done so with a positive purpose, as outlined in the Māori Data Governance Model (Data Iwi Leaders Group, 2023). This model states that "data should support transformative outcomes and should uplift and strengthen our relationships with each other and with our environments. The avoidance of harm is the minimum expectation for data use. Māori data should also contribute to iwi and hapū tino rangatiratanga”.

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Confidentiality

The 2023 Census confidentiality rules have been applied to 2013, 2018, and 2023 data. These rules protect the confidentiality of individuals, families, households, dwellings, and undertakings in 2023 Census data. Counts are calculated using fixed random rounding to base 3 (FRR3) and suppression of ‘sensitive’ counts less than six, where tables report multiple geographic variables and/or small populations. Individual figures may not always sum to stated totals. Applying confidentiality rules to 2023 Census data and summary of changes since 2018 and 2013 Censuses has more information about 2023 Census confidentiality rules.

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Symbol

-998 Not applicable

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Percentages

To calculate percentages, divide the figure for the category of interest by the figure for ‘Total stated’ where this applies.

ps-places-metadata-v1.01

SUMMARY

This dataset comprises a pair of layers, (points and polys) which attempt to better locate "populated places" in NZ. Populated places are defined here as settled areas, either urban or rural where densitys of around 20 persons per hectare exist, and something is able to be seen from the air.

RATIONALE

The only liberally licensed placename dataset is currently LINZ geographic placenames, which has the following drawbacks: - coordinates are not place centers but left most label on 260 series map - the attributes are outdated

METHODOLOGY

This dataset necessarily involves cleaving the linz placenames set into two, those places that are poplulated, and those unpopulated. Work was carried out in four steps. First placenames were shortlisted according to the following criterion: - all places that rated at least POPL in the linz geographic places layer, ie POPL, METR or TOWN or USAT were adopted. - Then many additional points were added from a statnz meshblock density analysis.
- Finally remaining points were added from a check against linz residential polys, and zenbu poi clusters.

Spelling is broadly as per linz placenames, but there are differences for no particular reason. Instances of LINZ all upper case have been converted to sentance case. Some places not presently in the linz dataset are included in this set, usually new places, or those otherwise unnamed. They appear with no linz id, and are not authoritative, in some cases just wild guesses.

Density was derived from the 06 meshblock boundarys (level 2, geometry fixed), multipart conversion, merging in 06 usually resident MB population then using the formula pop/area*10000. An initial urban/rural threshold level of 0.6 persons per hectare was used.

Step two was to trace the approx extent of each populated place. The main purpose of this step was to determine the relative area of each place, and to create an intersection with meshblocks for population. Step 3 involved determining the political center of each place, broadly defined as the commercial center.

Tracing was carried out at 1:9000 for small places, and 1:18000 for large places using either bing or google satellite views. No attempt was made to relate to actual town 'boundarys'. For example large parks or raceways on the urban fringe were not generally included. Outlying industrial areas were included somewhat erratically depending on their connection to urban areas.

Step 3 involved determining the centers of each place. Points were overlaid over the following layers by way of a base reference:

a. original linz placenames b. OSM nz-locations points layer c. zenbu pois, latest set as of 5/4/11 d. zenbu AllSuburbsRegions dataset (a heavily hand modified) LINZ BDE extract derived dataset courtesy Zenbu. e. LINZ road-centerlines, sealed and highway f. LINZ residential areas, g. LINZ building-locations and building footprints h. Olivier and Co nz-urban-north and south

Therefore in practice, sources c and e, form the effective basis of the point coordinates in this dataset. Be aware that e, f and g are referenced to the LINZ topo data, while c and d are likely referenced to whatever roading dataset google possesses. As such minor discrepencys may occur when moving from one to the other.

Regardless of the above, this place centers dataset was created using the following criteria, in order of priority:

• attempts to represent the present (2011) subjective 'center' of each place as defined by its commercial/retail center ie. mainstreets where they exist, any kind of central retail cluster, even a single shop in very small places.
• the coordinate is almost always at the junction of two or more roads.
• most of the time the coordinate is at or near the centroid of the poi cluster
• failing any significant retail presence, the coordinate tends to be placed near the main road junction to the community.
• when the above criteria fail to yield a definitive answer, the final criteria involves the centroids of: . the urban polygons . the clusters of building footprints/locations.

To be clear the coordinates are manually produced by eye without any kind of computation. As such the points are placed approximately perhaps plus or minus 10m, but given that the roads layers are not that flash, no attempt was made to actually snap the coordinates to the road junctions themselves.

The final step involved merging in population from SNZ meshblocks (merge+sum by location) of popl polys). Be aware that due to the inconsistent way that meshblocks are defined this will result in inaccurate populations, particular small places will collect population from their surrounding area. In any case the population will generally always overestimate by including meshblocks that just nicked the place poly. Also there are a couple of dozen cases of overlapping meshblocks between two place polys and these will double count. Which i have so far made no attempt to fix.

Merged in also tla and regions from SNZ shapes, a few of the original linz atrributes, and lastly grading the size of urban areas according to SNZ 'urban areas" criteria. Ie: class codes:

1. Not used.
2. main urban area 30K+
3. secondary urban area 10k-30K
4. minor urban area 1k-10k
5. rural center 300-1K
6. village -300

Note that while this terminology is shared with SNZ the actual places differ owing to different decisions being made about where one area ends an another starts, and what constiutes a suburb or satellite. I expect some discussion around this issue. For example i have included tinwald and washdyke as part of ashburton and timaru, but not richmond or waikawa as part of nelson and picton. Im open to discussion on these.

No attempt has or will likely ever be made to locate the entire LOC and SBRB data subsets. We will just have to wait for NZFS to release what is thought to be an authoritative set.

PROJECTION

Shapefiles are all nztm. Orig data from SNZ and LINZ was all sourced in nztm, via koordinates, or SNZ. Satellite tracings were in spherical mercator/wgs84 and converted to nztm by Qgis. Zenbu POIS were also similarly converted.

ATTRIBUTES

Shapefile: Points id : integer unique to dataset name : name of popl place, string class : urban area size as above. integer tcode : SNZ tla code, integer rcode : SNZ region code, 1-16, integer area : area of poly place features, integer in square meters. pop : 2006 usually resident popluation, being the sum of meshblocks that intersect the place poly features. Integer lid : linz geog places id desc_code : linz geog places place type code

Shapefile: Polygons gid : integer unique to dataset, shared by points and polys name : name of popl place, string, where spelling conflicts occur points wins area : place poly area, m2 Integer

LICENSE

Clarification about the minorly derived nature of LINZ and google data needs to be sought. But pending these copyright complications, the actual points data is essentially an original work, released as public domain. I retain no copyright, nor any responsibility for data accuracy, either as is, or regardless of any changes that are subsequently made to it.

Peter Scott 16/6/2011

v1.01 minor spelling and grammar edits 17/6/11

Urban rural 2023 update

UR 2023 is the first major update of the geography since it was first created in 2018. The update is to ensure UR geographies are relevant and meet criteria before each five-yearly population and dwelling census. UR 2023 contains 13 new rural settlements and 7 new small urban areas. Updates were made to reflect real world change including new subdivisions and motorways, and to improve delineation of urban areas and rural settlements. The Wānaka urban area, whose population has grown to be more than 10,000 based on population estimates, has been reclassified to a medium urban area in the 2023 urban rural indicator.

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In the 2023 classification there are:

• 7 major urban areas
• 13 large urban areas
• 23 medium urban areas
• 152 small urban areas
• 402 rural settlements.

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This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released urban rural (UR) boundaries as at 1 January 2023 as defined by Stats NZ. This version contains 745 UR areas, including 195 urban areas and 402 rural settlements.

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Urban rural (UR) is an output geography that classifies New Zealand into areas that share common urban or rural characteristics and is used to disseminate a broad range of Stats NZ’s social, demographic and economic statistics.

The UR separately identifies urban areas, rural settlements, other rural areas, and water areas. Urban areas and rural settlements are form-based geographies delineated by the inspection of aerial imagery, local government land designations on district plan maps, address registers, property title data, and any other available information. However, because the underlying meshblock pattern is used to define the geographies, boundaries may not align exactly with local government land designations or what can be seen in aerial images. Other rural areas, and bodies of water represent areas not included within an urban area.

Urban areas are built from the statistical area 2 (SA2) geography, while rural and water areas are built from the statistical area 1 (SA1) geography.

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Non-digitised

The following 4 non-digitised UR areas have been aggregated from the 16 non-digitised meshblocks/SA2s.

6901; Oceanic outside region, 6902; Oceanic oil rigs, 6903; Islands outside region, 6904; Ross Dependency outside region.

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UR numbering and naming

Each urban area and rural settlement is a single geographic entity with a name and a numeric code.

Other rural areas, inland water areas, and inlets are defined by territorial authority; oceanic areas are defined by regional council; and each have a name and a numeric code.

Urban rural codes have four digits. North Island locations start with a 1, South Island codes start with a 2, oceanic codes start with a 6 and non-digitised codes start with 69.

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Urban rural indicator (IUR)

The accompanying urban rural indicator (IUR) classifies the urban, rural, and water areas by type. Urban areas are further classified by the size of their estimated resident population:

• major urban area – 100,000 or more residents,
• large urban area – 30,000–99,999 residents,
• medium urban area – 10,000–29,999 residents,
• small urban area – 1,000–9,999 residents.

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This was based on 2018 Census data and 2021 population estimates. Their IUR status (urban area size/rural settlement) may change if the 2023 Census population count moves them up or down a category.

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The indicators, by name, with their codes in brackets, are:

urban area – major urban (11), large urban (12), medium urban (13), small urban (14),

rural area – rural settlement (21), rural other (22),

water – inland water (31), inlet (32), oceanic (33).

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The urban rural indicator complements the urban rural geography and is an attribute in this dataset. Further information on the urban rural indicator is available on the Stats NZ classification and coding tool ARIA.

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For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

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Generalised version

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

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Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

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Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands, covering a total area of 268,021 square kilometres (103,500 sq mi). New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.

Source: Objaverse 1.0 / Sketchfab

NZ：最大城市人口在12-01-2017达1,377,309.000人，相较于12-01-2016的1,360,422.000人有所增长。NZ：最大城市人口数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2017期间平均值为851,045.500人，共58份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2017，达1,377,309.000人，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1960，为440,164.000人。CEIC提供的NZ：最大城市人口数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于Global Database的新西兰 – 表 NZ.世界银行：人口和城市化进程统计。

NZ Suburbs and Localities describes the spatial extent and name of communities in urban areas (suburbs) and rural areas (localities) for navigation and location purposes.

The suburb and locality boundaries cover New Zealand including North Island, South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Chatham Islands, and nearby offshore islands.

Each suburb and locality is assigned a name, major name, Territorial Authority and, if appropriate, additional in use names. A population estimate is provided for each suburb and locality by Stats NZ.

For more information please refer to the NZ Suburbs and Localities Data Dictionary and the LINZ Website

Changes to NZ Suburbs and Localities can be requested by emailing addresses@linz.govt.nz

Change Request Guidance Documents: - Change Request Process - Change Request Principles, Requirements and Rules

APIs and web services

This dataset is available via ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS REST services, as well as our standard APIs. LDS APIs and OGC web services ArcGIS Online map services

In 2024, the main center in New Zealand with the highest number of sunshine hours was Tauranga, with ***** hours. The average temperature for Tauranga was **** degrees Celsius in that year.

Water companies have faced difficult conditions over the past five years. Many consumers have become increasingly conscious of their water use as new water meters and volumetric pricing have been rolled out across New Zealand, reducing industry revenue. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to reduced demand for water across businesses and industry from 2019-20 through 2021-22, with some households and businesses requesting bill payment deferrals. High annual rainfall has also reduced demand from agricultural producers, especially for highly water intensive processes like irrigation. Revenue is expected to decline at an annualised 3.3% over the five years through 2023-24, to $940.9 million. This includes an anticipated fall of 4.2% in 2023-24.Continuing long-term trends, the industry has struggled to achieve profitability over the past five years, as local and regional councils directly control all industry firms. Additionally, political pressures have limited the industry's ability to raise water rates in response to rising costs. Significant investment in new water storage and filtration assets, and water meters has increased the industry's asset base and depreciation costs. As a result, some water-supplying entities have incurred operating losses over recent years, indicating the continued pressure that high fixed costs place on the ability of the industry to drive up profit margins. These structural factors are likely to keep most water assets in council hands for the foreseeable future. Revenue is projected to grow moderately over the next five years, although profit margins will remain suppressed as capital requirements grow and pressure on councils to fund a growing infrastructure deficit limits industry-wide operating surpluses. In addition, a newly elected Central Government (Te Kawanatanga o Aotearoa) has cancelled the proposed Three Waters Reforms, which will keep water assets in council hands and put off an effort to centralise the administration of New Zealand's water. Overall, revenue is forecast to rise at an annualised 0.6% over the five years through 2028-29, to total $971.4 million.

The price of residential property in New Zealand was the highest in the Auckland region in March 2025, with an average sale price of around *********** New Zealand dollars. The most populated city in the country, Auckland, has consistently reported higher house prices compared to most other regions. Buying property in New Zealand, particularly in its major cities, is expensive. The nation has one of the highest house-price-to-income ratios in the world. Auckland residential market The residential housing market in Auckland is competitive. Prices have been slowly decreasing; the Auckland region experienced an annual decrease in the average residential house price in March 2025 compared to the same month in the previous year. The price of residential property in Auckland was the highest in the North Shore City district, with an average sale price of around **** million New Zealand dollars. Home financing Due to the rising cost of real estate, an increasing number of New Zealanders who want to own their own property are taking on mortgages. Most residential mortgage lending in New Zealand went to owner-occupier borrowers, followed by first home buyers. In addition to mortgage lending, previously under the KiwiSaver HomeStart initiative, first-home buyers in New Zealand were able to apply to withdraw all or part of their KiwiSaver retirement savings to assist with purchasing a first home. Nonetheless, the scheme was discontinued in May 2024. Furthermore, even with a large initial deposit, it may take decades for many borrowers to pay off their mortgage.

The Port and Water Transport Terminals industry is vital to New Zealand's international trading activity. As the country is not linked to any of its trading partners by land, ports provide an essential link between New Zealand and key overseas markets, like Australia and China. A series of challenges and opportunities have marked the recent performance of the industry. Declining international trade volumes and a drop in the trade-weighted index have led to an expected annualised revenue drop of 3.6% over the five years through the end of 2024-25. The industry has witnessed employment growth due to job creation from port expansions and a post-pandemic boost in water tourism. Falling revenue coupled with employment growth has escalated wage costs, negatively impacting profit margins. The industry has also faced further profitability challenges with continually rising purchase costs, heightened by high inflation in recent years and supply chain issues in the global fuel market. Revenue is estimated to total $1.6 billion in 2024-25, when revenue will fall by an anticipated 1.7%. The future outlook for the Port and Water Transport Terminals industry is promising, with industry revenue forecast to grow at an annualised 1.3% over the five years through 2029-30, to $1.7 billion. This growth mainly stems from forecasted rises in international trade volumes, spurred by free-trade agreements and robust overseas demand for New Zealand products. Notably, the New Zealand-European Union Free Trade Agreement points towards significant export opportunities in the near future for local businesses. Revenue is expected to rebound on the back of increased national demand for water passenger transport as cruise-based tourism continues its post-pandemic recovery. Profitability is projected to grow gradually over the coming years, as easing purchase cost pressures will positively impact profit margins.

Lidar was captured for Environment Canterbury Regional Council by AAM in October and November 2015. The datasets were generated by AAM and their subcontractors. The survey area includes Christchurch City and large portions of the Selwyn district. Data management and distribution is by Land Information New Zealand. Prepared DEM and DSM files are available through the LINZ Data Service https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/3587-canterbury-christchurch-and-selwyn-lidar-1m-dem-2015/ https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/3588-canterbury-christchurch-and-selwyn-lidar-1m-dsm-2015/

Background

Intentional self-harm is a common cause of hospital presentations in New Zealand and across the world, and self-poisoning is the most common method of self-harm. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is frequently used in impulsive intentional overdoses, where ease of access may determine the choice of substance.

Objective

This cross-sectional study aimed to determine how much paracetamol is present and therefore accessible in urban New Zealand households, and sources from where it has been obtained. This information is not currently available through any other means, but could inform New Zealand drug policy on access to paracetamol.

Methods

Random cluster-sampling of households was performed in major urban areas of two cities in New Zealand, and the paracetamol-containing products, quantities, and sources were recorded. Population estimates of proportions of various types of paracetamol products were calculated.

Results

A total of 174 of the 201 study households (86.6%) had at least one paracetamol product. Study households had mostly prescription products (78.2% of total mass), and a median of 24.0 g paracetamol present per household (inter-quartile range 6.0-54.0 g). Prescribed paracetamol was the main source of large stock. Based on the study findings, 53% of New Zealand households had 30 g or more paracetamol present, and 36% had 30 g or more of prescribed paracetamol, specifically.

Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of assessing whether and how much paracetamol is truly needed when prescribing and dispensing it. Convenience of appropriate access to therapeutic paracetamol needs to be balanced with preventing unnecessary accumulation of paracetamol stocks in households and inappropriate access to it. Prescribers and pharmacists need to be aware of the risks of such accumulation and assess the therapeutic needs of their patients. Public initiatives should be rolled out at regular intervals to encourage people to return unused or expired medicines to pharmacies for safe disposal.

Methods The stocks of paracetamol-containing medicines (acetaminophen) held at a single time point in New Zealand households are described in this dataset. These data were collected via a cluster-sampling survey of two cities in New Zealand.

A door-to-door survey study with random, clustered sampling of consenting household members in two cities in New Zealand was designed. A total of 201 households in 40 meshblocks in two Major Urban Areas (MUAs; areas of 100,000 or more residents) of Dunedin and Auckland were sampled. Meshblocks are Statistics NZ’s smallest geographic unit, and roughly correspond to a city block or part of it. Random cluster-sampling of 20 meshblocks in each city was performed by deprivation level, where all eligible MUA meshblocks were stratified by their New Zealand Deprivation Index 2013 (NZDep2013) index scores, which describe the level of area deprivation by taking into account multiple relevant area and household variables. Six meshblocks were randomly selected from each city from NZDep2013 8-10 meshblocks (most deprived), eight from NZDep 4-7, and 6 from NZDep2013 1-2 (least deprived), for a total of 40 meshblocks. This was done to obtain a sample that would be representative of the general New Zealand population by levels of deprivation. Each meshblock was sampled by starting from a random end of the street and then tossing a dice to choose a house to approach, and repeating this until either five households were recruited or there were no more households to sample.

Trained Research Assistants (RAs) knocked on the doors of domiciles in each meshblock to be sampled, chosen by tossing a dice as described. Inclusion criteria: person present and usually residing in a domicile in a meshblock which was sampled, and aged 16 or over. Exclusion criteria: not able to give informed consent (intoxicated, aggressive, otherwise not safe to approach – nobody was excluded for this reason).

Household members aged 16 years and over were eligible to participate, and if consent was obtained, basic demographics were collected about the household (number of people usually residing in the household, their age, sex, ethnicity). Participants were then shown images of paracetamol-containing products (sole and combination), and requested to bring out all paracetamol products of their own, and any that were shared by the household in communal areas of the domicile. Private stock of any other residents of the household who were not present and were therefore unable to consent was not recorded for ethical reasons. If there were no paracetamol products present, that was recorded. If there were paracetamol products present, product type, strength, expiry date, purchase date and means of obtaining (by prescription, pharmacy over-the-counter [OTC], other retailer [i.e. not a pharmacy; e.g. supermarket, petrol station], other, unknown) were recorded.

The data were entered into a main database which is fully de-identified. Meshblock numbers are included in the dataset, but households are only given an identifier derived from the meshblock code. It would not be possible to identify a specific household from the data. Paracetamol product names were cleaned in the dataset (if there were any misspellings), and new variables were calculated to summarise the data (e.g. total household stock of prescribed paracetamol products, etc.).