Rahi Workforce size

Public Service annual analysis – year to June 2026

There were 63,912 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff as at 30 June 2026. This is an annual increase of 2.0% (or 1,258 FTEs) from 62,654 FTEs in June 2025. The quarterly change from March 2026 was a decrease of 1.0% or 622 FTEs. 

2023/24 was the first year in which some workforce data has been collected quarterly. Since then, FTEs peaked in the December 2023 quarter at 65,699 before decreasing (4.6%) to a recent low of 62,654 FTE in June 2025, and have now increased (2.0%) to the latest level of 63,912 FTE (shown in the table below). Note some of change across quarters is seasonal, with an effect that the September and December quarters often show an increase, while March and June quarters typically decrease. 

Note: Quarterly and annual change figures in this table have been calculated off unrounded FTEs.

Agencies were roughly split between those that increased (21) and decreased (18), while one agency – the Independent Monitor of the Oranga Tamariki System – changed to being an Independent Crown Entity (indicating a drop of 53 FTEs against a Public Service total).

These changes reflect agencies responding to government priorities, including delivering on funding for new frontline services in some agencies, while others focused on prioritisation and planned organisational change.

The largest increases in FTEs in the year to 30 June 2026 occurred at:

• The Department of Corrections (up 356 FTEs, or 3.3%), due to reduced turnover, and increased funding and recruitment into both front line and back-office positions, particularly corrections officers.
• The Ministry of Education (up 350 FTEs, or 9.1%), responding to investment in front line positions, particularly Learning Support services, as well as recruitment to critical long-term vacancies.
• Inland Revenue (up 349 FTEs, or 7.7%), primarily to support increased compliance activity.
• Ministry of Social Development (up 309 FTEs, or 3.5%), driven by increased funding, and increased hiring in Service Delivery.
• Oranga Tamariki (up 223 FTEs, or 4.9%), responding to government priorities funded through Budget 2025, including increased services and increasing technology.
• Public Service Commission (153 FTEs, or 78.9%), nearly all of which (140 FTEs) reflects the transfer of the Government Digital Delivery Agency from the Department of Internal Affairs.
• The Social Investment Agency also saw a notable increase in percentage terms, up 74.0% (or 37 FTEs) from June 2025. This was due to the delivery of new functions, such as the establishment of the Social Investment Fund, and setting standards for social investment practice.

The largest decreases in FTEs were at:

• The Department of Internal Affairs (down 343 FTEs, or 13.1%), relating to the transfer of the Government Digital Delivery Agency to the Public Service Commission and redundancies from organisational change processes.
• The Ministry of Health (down 115 FTEs, or 15.8%), undertook organisational change to improve effectiveness, reduce duplication, and better align resources with the Government’s through baseline savings requirements.

Other agencies with notable declines were The Treasury (down 61 FTE, or 10.3%), Ministry of Transport (down 29 FTE, or 14.7%), Crown Law Office (down 22 FTE, or 9.7%), and Te Pūnki Kōkiri (down 40 FTE, or 9.5%).

Departmental FTE changes(CSV, 52 KB)

Crown entity FTE changes(CSV, 15 KB)

Crown Entity Annual analysis – year to June 2026 

To help measure progress on the Government’s contractor and consultant target, the Public Service Commission began collecting workforce data in 2023 for the baseline agencies that sit outside the core Public Service. That is Crown entities, Police, NZ Defence Force and the Māori Health Authority.  This data is presented in the ‘Crown Entity FTE changes’ table in the preceding visualisation. It shows that FTE numbers across these baseline agencies sum to 132,933 FTEs as at 30 June 2026, an increase of 1.3% from June 2025.

The baseline agencies include two of the three non-Public Service departments in the Executive branch (Police and the NZ Defence Force). If we include the third non-Public Service department, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, the FTEs at 30 June 2026 sum to 133,049.

For details of these changes by department please see the “Departmental FTE changes” tab in the visualisation above.

Contractor and consultant expenditure 

This section presents results on contractor and consultant expenditure in the Public Service and Crown entities and how it has changed over time.

The Government’s expectation has been that, following decreases over the previous two years, operational expenditure (OPEX) in 2025/26 should not exceed $1.25 billion annually across the public sector. This expectation covered expenditure across departments, departmental agencies, Crown entities, NZDF and NZ Police.

Across all monitored agencies, the final full-year results for 2025/26 saw a small increase in OPEX of around $57 million (or 4.6%) from the previous year to $1,303 million. This has been driven by the Government’s investment in front-line services at agencies such as the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki-Ministry for Children. Spending for 2025/26 exceeded the target by $53 million.

Public Service annual analysis – year to June 2026

In 2025/26, Public Service organisations spent a total of $655.0 million on contractors and consultants. This was an increase of 7.2% on the 2024/25 spend of $611.1 million.

Total expenditure comprises OPEX of $441.8 million (up 25.2% from $353.0 million in 2024/25) and capital expenditure of $213.2 million (down 17.4% from $258.1 million in 2024/25).

Operating expenditure on contractors and consultants was 6.3% of total Public Service workforce spend ($7,044.5 million), an increase on 5.3% in 2024/25. The 2024/25 percentage was the lowest since this data began to be collected in 2017/18. The highest was 14.5% in 2021/22. This measure represents the balance between using external resources where appropriate and building capacity and capability in the Public Service.

Contractor and Consultant Expenditure agency(CSV, 19 KB)

Contractor and Consultant OPEX Share(CSV, 170 bytes)

Contractor and Consultant Expenditure Crown entity(CSV, 17 KB)

Crown entity annual analysis – year to June 2026

To help measure progress on the Government’s contractor and consultant target, the Public Service Commission began collecting workforce data in 2023 for the baseline agencies that sit outside the core Public Service. That is Crown entities, Police, NZ Defence Force and the Māori Health Authority (before its disestablishment).  This data is presented in the ‘Crown Entity expenditure’ tab of the preceding visualisation.

It shows that contractor and consultant expenditure across Crown entities, NZDF, and Police decreased substantially overall in 2025/26. There was a total of $1,189 million contractor and consultant expenditure, down 33.9% from 2024/25 – OPEX was at $861 million for the year, down 3.6% from 2024/25, while CAPEX was at $328 million, down 63.8% from 2024/25.

The baseline agencies include two of the three non-Public Service departments in the Executive branch (Police and the NZ Defence Force). If we include the third non-Public Service department, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, the total contractor and consultant expenditure for 2025/26 would be $1,192 million.

Contractor and consultant guidance

Public Service contractor and consultant data for the 2017/18 year was the first to be published using our new guidance on how to report contractor and consultant expenditure. Before the new guidance, there was inconsistency in how organisations reported this expenditure. 

Contractors and Consultants Guidance (PDF, 642 KB)

The focus is on operating expenditure, as the large one-off investments that capital expenditure typically represents are likely to have a different mix of public servants and contractors/consultants and the resulting expenditure is likely to be volatile over time due to the fixed-term nature of these projects. 

Contractor and consultant expenditure definitions

Operating expenditure (OPEX) — this is the money spent for contractors and consultants that are not for the purpose of acquiring or developing assets. 

Capital expenditure (CAPEX) — this is the money spent to acquire resources to develop assets, tangible and intangible, through procurement of contractors and consultants. 

Total workforce spend — this is the sum of salary expenditure for permanent and fixed-term employees, and operational expenditure on contractors and consultants. 

The first release was for the 2017/2018 financial year and can be located below.

More consistent reporting of contractors and consultants - Public Service Commission Te Kawa Mataaho

The Commission uses Stats NZ’s Business Demography data to monitor the size and regional composition of the public sector. This data shows that the public sector employed around 477,400 people in 2025, 19.5% of New Zealand’s total workforce (2,450,500). The majority (87%) work in central government (417,700) and 13% in local government (59,700). 

The central government sector comprises all public sector employees, except those in local government. This includes the Public Service, health sector (including Health New Zealand employees), the education sector (including primary, area and secondary school staff and staff at tertiary education institutions), and Crown entities. 

Over the last 5 years, the overall public sector workforce increased by 10.9% (with growth of 10.8% across central government and 12.2% across local government). This compares with growth of 3.7% in the private sector over the same period. 

The sector composition of workforce varies amongst the regions (see the interactive dashboard below). 

NZ workforce by sector(CSV, 171 KB)