New Zealand

Economy & income

Currency

• New Zealand Dollar (NZD, NZ$)
• ~0.58 USD per NZD (~1.73 NZD/USD, 14 Jul 2026)

GDP per capita

• ~$48,600 nominal (2025, IMF)
• ~$54,000 PPP (2025 est; World Bank PPP was ~$49,300 in 2024)

Average salary

• ~$2,900 net/mo (Numbeo NZ$5,013/mo, Jul 2026)
• gross ~$3,700/mo (avg salary ~NZ$77k/yr)

Median salary

~$3,450/mo gross (median wage/salary earnings NZ$1,380/wk, Stats NZ Jun 2025 quarter)

Minimum wage

NZ$23.95/hr adult (effective 1 Apr 2026; MBIE/Employment NZ) → ~$13.85/hr, ~$2,400/mo full-time

Cost of living

• High — NZ ranks ~36th globally
• Auckland COL index 65.4, Wellington 66.0 (Numbeo, Jul 2026)
• Auckland expensive for rent/housing

Digital landscape

Population

5.23 million (Jan 2025)

Internet users

96.2% (~5.03 million users)

Social media users

79.1% (~4.14 million identities)

Mobile connections

6.03 million connections = 115% of population

Devices

desktop ~59.4% / mobile ~38.0% / tablet ~2.6% of web traffic (StatCounter, Jun 2026) — note NZ web is desktop-skewed but mobile is iOS-heavy

Ad spend

• Total media ~NZ$4.11B (2025)
• digital ~NZ$2.967B (~72%, +12% YoY — IAB NZ; search NZ$1.44B, video NZ$654M)

Top social platforms

• YouTube — ~79.1% reach
• Facebook — ~65.0%
• LinkedIn — ~59.2%
• Facebook Messenger — ~55.4%
• Instagram — ~47.8%
• TikTok — ~46.1% of adults 18+

Messengers

• Facebook Messenger (~2.9M, 55.4%)
• WhatsApp
• iMessage (iOS-heavy)

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Cards/EFTPOS (very high — Visa/Mastercard + domestic EFTPOS/Online EFTPOS)
• BNPL ~13% of ecommerce value (Afterpay leading ~22% of shoppers, Zip ~5%, Laybuy now Klarna-owned)
• POLi / bank transfer

E-wallets

• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• PayPal
• Samsung Pay

Cash on delivery

• Negligible — cash-on-delivery rare
• card and digital-wallet dominant

E-commerce

• High
• Trade Me is the #1 local marketplace
• digital wallets now the top online payment method

Notes

• BNPL adoption among the highest globally (level with Australia, ~13% of ecommerce value)
• credit cards are banned under the new licensed online-gambling regime

Audience & culture

Languages

• English (primary)
• Māori / te reo (official)
• NZ Sign Language (official)
• Samoan
• Hindi
• Mandarin

Religion

• No religion largest (~48-51%)
• Christianity declining (~32%)
• Hindu, Muslim, Māori spirituality minorities (2023 census)

Median age

37.7 years

Key seasons

• Christmas/summer holidays (Dec-Jan — SUMMER, beach/BBQ)
• Boxing Day
• Black Friday / Cyber Monday
• EOFY (31 Mar)
• Waitangi Day (6 Feb)
• Matariki — Māori New Year public holiday (Jun/Jul)
• Back-to-school (late Jan)

Cultural notes

• Reversed seasons — summer at Christmas (outdoor/beach creative Dec-Jan)
• laid-back, value-driven and deal-savvy
• strong respect for Māori culture (Aotearoa, te reo, tikanga)
• 'tall poppy' — avoid over-hyped claims

Where to find creators

• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Facebook

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Viva La Dirt League ~7M subscribers

YouTubeComedy / gaming sketch troupe

A

Andy Hearnden (Andy Cooks) ~5M YouTube, ~4.3M TikTok

YouTube/TikTokCooking / recipes

J

Jamie Curry (Jamie's World) ~1.4M YouTube, millions on Facebook

Facebook/YouTubeComedy / vlogging

S

Shannon Harris (Shaaanxo) ~3M subscribers

YouTubeBeauty / makeup (xo Beauty founder)

J

Jimi Jackson ~1M YouTube, ~0.9M Facebook

YouTube/FacebookComedy / Māori humour

S

Simone Anderson ~0.7M Instagram

InstagramLifestyle / fashion / body-positivity

Celebrities

Lorde ~11M Instagram

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter (Royals, Solar Power)

Taika Waititi ~3M Instagram

Oscar-winning filmmaker/actor (Jojo Rabbit, Thor)

Lydia Ko ~0.5M Instagram

Golfer, Olympic champion, former world #1

Sam Neill ~1M Instagram

Actor (Jurassic Park, The Piano)

Rose Matafeo ~0.3M Instagram

Comedian/actress (Starstruck), Edinburgh Comedy Award winner

Benee ~1M Instagram

Pop singer-songwriter (Supalonely)

Ardie Savea ~0.6M Instagram

All Blacks captain, World Rugby Player of the Year

Melanie Lynskey ~0.8M Instagram

Actress (Yellowjackets, The Last of Us)

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• Finance (loans, insurance, credit cards, BNPL)
• iGaming (grey/newly licensing 2026)
• Retail & fashion
• Travel (Air NZ, Contiki)
• Nutra/health (DTC pharma allowed)
• Crypto
• Telco

Active networks

• Commission Factory (Awin-owned)
• Awin
• S.L.I.C.E Digital
• LinkShop / Commerce NZ
• Amazon Associates (via AU)
• Impact / Rakuten

Payouts

• Tier-1 payouts
• finance CPL ~NZ$20-80
• iGaming CPA set to grow with 2026 licensing
• retail CPS ~3-10%

Competition

• Moderate — small (~5.2M) but high-value market, usually bundled into AU/NZ campaigns
• less saturated than US/UK

Seasonality

• Reversed seasons — summer/Christmas peak (Dec-Jan), Boxing Day, Black Friday, EOFY (31 Mar)
• Matariki emerging

Traffic sources

• Google Search / SEO
• Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ads
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Email
• Native

Good to know

Capital

Wellington

Major cities

• Auckland
• Wellington
• Christchurch
• Hamilton
• Tauranga
• Dunedin
• Lower Hutt
• Palmerston North

Time zones

• NZST (UTC+12)
• NZDT (UTC+13) daylight saving late Sep-early Apr

Android vs iOS

47% 53%

Android 47% iOS 53%

Phone brands

• Apple
• Samsung
• Google
• Oppo
• Xiaomi
• Motorola

Top e-commerce

• Trade Me (local #1)
• Amazon (AU)
• The Warehouse
• Mighty Ape
• Temu
• AliExpress
• Kmart NZ

Peak activity

Evenings ~7-10pm NZST, lunch ~12-1pm, and mobile use during morning commute

Creative taboos

• Māori / Treaty of Waitangi issues, colonial history, the Treaty Principles debate
• respect tikanga and te reo

Also worth knowing

• Reversed seasons — run summer/beach/BBQ creative at Christmas (Dec-Jan)
• Trade Me + BNPL are dominant
• small (~5.2M) but high-value Tier-1 English market
• NZ rarely allows DTC prescription-drug ads (only NZ + USA), and web traffic skews desktop while mobile skews iOS.