The average area of Māori farms was 2.5 times larger than the average area of all farms in New Zealand in 2025, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
At 30 June 2025, Māori farms had an average size of 707 hectares. The average size for all farms in New Zealand was 284 hectares.
"Māori authorities manage collectively owned farms, which tend to be larger than the average New Zealand farm," Tatauranga umanga Māori spokesperson Michael Heslop said.
Māori authorities are economically significant businesses involved in the collective management of assets held by Māori. Almost half of Māori farms are owned and operated by Māori authorities.
Māori farms had more forestry land
Māori farms had a higher proportion of forestry plantation and native bush and scrub in 2025 compared with all New Zealand farms.
At 30 June 2025, 22.5 percent of the total area of Māori farms was exotic forestry plantation (such as pine), compared with 14.6 percent for all New Zealand farms. In the same period, 18.4 percent of the total area of Māori farms was bush and scrub, compared with 8.9 percent for all New Zealand farms.
| Land type | Māori farms | All New Zealand farms |
| Grassland | 48.9 | 54.1 |
| Horticulture land | 0.9 | 1 |
| Exotic forestry plantation | 22.5 | 14.6 |
| Bush and scrub | 18.4 | 8.9 |
| All other land | 9.2 | 21.3 |
Number of sheep on Māori farms down 7.8 percent since 2017
At 30 June 2025, Māori farms had:
- 1,242,600 sheep - 5.3 percent of New Zealand's total
- 206,600 beef cattle - 5.4 percent of New Zealand's total
- 160,100 dairy cattle - 2.8 percent of New Zealand's total
- 8,900 deer - 1.2 percent of New Zealand's total.
"The number of sheep on Māori farms was down 7.8 percent from 2017 when the Tatauranga umanga Māori series began," Heslop said.
"This was less than the decrease on all farms, down 16 percent in the same period."
