Public Service Census provides us with information about faith and religion alongside Stats NZ Census 2023 population data.
Diverse religious affiliation
In the 2025 Public Service Census, 41.8% of public servants identified with a religion. Christianity was the largest religious group, representing 31.7% of respondents, similar to the proportion recorded in the 2023 New Zealand Census (34.7%). Other religious affiliations can be seen below, with those such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam also similar to 2023 figures for the New Zealand population.
The majority of public servants reported having no religion (58.2%, up from 53.3% in 2021). This is very similar to 2023 figures for the New Zealand population, with 55.2% reporting no religion. Note this and other population figures in the chart below have been adjusted to be directly comparable with the Public Service figures – for Stats NZ’s originally published figures, please see Over half the population has no religion on the Stats NZ website or hover over the relevant part of the graph. You can also download the data file attached below.