Māori Business Stats Released: March 2026 Quarter

E ngā iwi, e ngā reo, e ngā whakahuahuatanga maha, tēnā koutou katoa.

Tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou ngā uepū Māori i roto i ngā tini āhuatanga o te wā. E mihi ana ki a koutou mō koutou i tahuri mai ki te tautoko i ngā mahi, i tuku hoki i ā koutou mōhiotanga, kōrero ki a mātou. E mōhio ana mātou he taonga nui ngā kōrero o te iwi, o te hapū, o te hapori, me te whānau. Nō reira, ka nui te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. Tēnei te tāpae atu nei i tēnei kohinga tatauranga ā-hauwhā tau mō ngā umanga Māori o te motu, e kitea ai ngā tini āhuatanga o ēnei kōkiri nui o te ao Māori mō tēnei wāhanga o te tau. Nō reira tēnā koutou katoa.

We would like to acknowledge all of those who contributed to this data release by providing data through various surveys and other means. We thank you for your support and for sharing your knowledge and information with us. We understand that the information of iwi, hapū, the community, and whānau are treasured, therefore we greatly appreciate your willingness to share such treasures with us.

Tatauranga umanga Māori - Statistics on Māori businesses: March 2026 quarter presents information on one subset of Māori businesses that contribute to our country's economy. This release includes data on Māori authorities and related businesses. It does not cover all Māori businesses in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Māori authorities are defined as businesses that receive, manage, and/or administer assets held in common ownership by iwi and Māori. Māori authorities are largely identified through their tax codes as registered with Inland Revenue. Any business within a Māori authority ownership group is also included for the purposes of Tatauranga umanga Māori.

Key facts

In the March 2026 quarter, around 1,500 Māori authorities and related businesses were in the Tatauranga umanga Māori population.

All figures are actual values and are not adjusted for seasonal effects.

In the March 2026 quarter, compared with the March 2025 quarter:

• the total value of sales by Māori authorities was $972 million, down $109 million (10 percent)
• the total value of purchases by Māori authorities was $622 million, down $123 million (16 percent)
• the total number of filled jobs for Māori authorities was 10,860, down 1,070 jobs (9.0 percent)
• the total value of earnings by employees of Māori authorities was $199 million, down $14 million (6.7 percent)
• Māori authorities exported $182 million worth of goods, down $37 million (17 percent).

Number, value, and percentage changes are calculated on unrounded figures.

Business financial data

Industry sales and purchases for Māori authorities and related businesses in the March 2026 quarter were:

• primary industries ‒ $375 million in sales, $254 million in purchases
• goods-producing industries ‒ $123 million in sales, $71 million in purchases
• services industries ‒ $474 million in sales, $297 million in purchases.

Industry groupings for:

• primary industries include businesses involved in farming, forestry, fishing, and mining
• goods-producing industries include businesses involved in manufacturing; utilities such as electricity, gas, water, and waste services; and construction
• services industries include businesses involved in health care and social assistance, real estate, travel agencies, and management services - for example, head offices.

Due to the small number of Māori authorities in the Tatauranga umanga Māori population, some industries have been grouped together to allow more data to be released.

Broad industry groups - ANZSIC06 on Datainfo+ has more information on how the industries are grouped.

For the March 2026 quarter compared with the March 2025 quarter, the total value of sales by Māori authorities and related businesses fell $109 million.

By industry, the largest movements were:

• goods-producing industries, down $85 million (41 percent)
• health care and social assistance, down $42 million (26 percent)
• other services industries, up $11 million (13 percent).

Note that sales reported here may include donations and government funding. These funding sources are more prevalent in services industries.

Business financial data: March 2026 quarter has information on sales and purchases for most market industries in New Zealand.

Business employment data

For Māori authorities and related businesses in the March 2026 quarter, compared with the March 2025 quarter:

• the number of filled jobs for men was 4,810, down 460 jobs (8.8 percent)
• the number of filled jobs for women was 6,050, down 610 jobs (9.1 percent)
• total earnings for men was $97 million, down $7.5 million (7.2 percent)
• total earnings for women was $102 million, down $6.7 million (6.2 percent).

The total number of filled jobs for Māori authorities and related businesses fell by 1,070 jobs in the March 2026 quarter, compared with the March 2025 quarter. The movements by industry group were:

• primary industries, down 370 jobs (13 percent)
• goods-producing industries, down 150 jobs (22 percent)
• services industries, down 550 jobs (6.5 percent).

Total earnings for employees of Māori authorities and related businesses fell $14 million to $199 million in the March 2026 quarter, compared with the March 2025 quarter. The movements in earnings by industry group were:

• primary industries, down $4.5 million (8.3 percent)
• goods-producing industries, down $4.6 million (31 percent)
• services industries, down $5.1 million (3.6 percent).

Business employment data: March 2026 quarter has more information on filled jobs and gross earnings for all New Zealand businesses.

Goods exports

In the March 2026 quarter, compared with the March 2025 quarter, the value of:

• total goods exports by Māori authorities was $182 million, down $37 million (17 percent)
• exports to China was $43 million, down $4.1 million (8.7 percent)
• exports to all other countries was $139 million, down $33 million (19 percent).

Overseas merchandise trade: March 2026 has more information on imports and exports of merchandise goods for all New Zealand businesses.

Data updates to Tatauranga umanga Māori

Changes in business ownership and structure, including the sale of subsidiaries and acquisition of new businesses, are reflected in these results. These adjustments can lead to some businesses being reclassified into different industry groups, or businesses being added to, or removed from, the population. Each business is categorised based on the industry that most accurately reflects its primary activity for the reporting period.

In the December 2025 quarter, there was a structural change in the goods-producing industry. This change has had an impact on multiple measures (including Goods exports) for both the December 2025 and March 2026 quarters.

Data on Māori authorities presented in this release is based on the revised population used in the 2024 annual release.

Counts of Māori authorities in the annual release are based on business demography data. Due to different levels of coverage, the counts presented in this quarterly release will differ from those published in the annual release.

Tatauranga umanga Māori - Statistics on Māori businesses: 2024 has more information on changes to the Māori business population.

Definitions and metadata

Tatauranga umanga Māori - Statistics on Māori businesses: quarterly - DataInfo+ provides general methodology and definitions relevant for Māori business statistics.

Tatauranga umanga Māori: 2023 pūrongo matatini - Statistics on Māori businesses: 2023 technical report provides contextual and technical information about Stats NZ's publication of Tatauranga umanga Māori - Statistics on Māori businesses.

Technical enquiries

Te tīma Tatauranga umanga Māori
[email protected]
04 931 4600

ISSN 2744-6417

Next releases

Tatauranga umanga Māori - Statistics on Māori businesses: 2025 will be released on 28 August 2026.

Tatauranga umanga Māori - Statistics on Māori businesses: June 2026 quarter will be released on 9 October 2026.