Aotearoa/New Zealand: Picture perfect paradise Down Under? – Image: TNZ

Standardised testing and regular progress assessment became key features of the education system this year, so why not apply those same principles to New Zealand as a whole?

There’s an important difference here, of course. This exercise is about prompting discussion and debate, and should be read with a degree of caution. The metrics tell us only so much – but it’s still possible to trace the nation’s ups and downs.

As one year ends and other beckons, it might also be time to make some collective new year’s resolutions based on the various trends outlined here.

Near the top of the class

Civil liberty: the top mark is from Freedom House which underlined New Zealand’s consistent near-perfect score of 99 out of 100 for political and civil liberties – second equal with Norway, just behind Finland.

Security: in the Global Peace Index, New Zealand moved up two slots to third place globally (behind Iceland and Ireland, but best in the Asia-Pacific) for safety and security, low domestic and international conflict, and degree of militarisation.

Corruption: Transparency International recorded a gradual decline from being in equal top place in 2021 to fourth in the latest survey – but still relatively corruption-free.

Gender equality: the annual Global Gender Gap Report recorded New Zealand slipping a place to fifth most gender-equal country (but top in the Pacific region).

Rule of Law: a continued improvement in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index saw the country ranked fifth globally.

Quality of life: The Economist Global Liveability Index placed Auckland seventh most liveable city in the world.

New Zealand: The population aequivalent of a small town is leaving Aotearoa/NZ permanently each year – often migrating to Australia – Image: TNZ

Doing well or better

Economic freedom: the Index for Economic Freedom, which covers everything from property rights to financial freedom, placed New Zealand 11th – down from sixth last year, but still “mostly free”.

Happiness: New Zealanders are not quite as happy as they were, slipping a place to the 12th most-cheery nation in the World Happiness Report.

Media freedom: the country began to climb back in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, up from 19th last year to 16th.

Competitiveness: New Zealand moved up a spot in the Global Competitiveness Report, now in 31st place (but still well below the 20th ranking from 2021).

Innovation: on the Global Innovation Index, which measures a range of social and economic indicators, New Zealand slipped one place to 26th.

Economic performance: The Economist ranked New Zealand as the 31st best-performing economy in 2025, up two places from 2024.

Foreign aid: New Zealand’s overseas development aid continued to increase to an estimated US$780.8 million, representing 0.32% of gross national income, placing it 17th among OECD-ranked countries.

Terrorism: the Global Terrorism Index recorded a significant improvement of 42 places, with New Zealand now ranked 94th and “very low” risk. While the national terror threat level remained low (meaning a terror attack is a realistic possibility), this was a positive development.

Room for improvement

Artificial intelligence: a “light touch” policy approach to artificial intelligence (AI) regulation will not have improved a relatively low 43rd ranking in the Global Index on Responsible AI.

Employment: economic numbers at home told another mixed story, with unemployment growing to 5.3% (160,000 people) in the September quarter – now above the OECD average.

Inflation: the inflation rate fell rapidly but has now pushed back to 3% – lower than the anticipated OECD average of 4.2% but higher than the 2.4% anticipated earlier.

Public housing: as of October, the total stock of public houses continued to grow, up to 87,338 (an increase of 7,875 since the middle of 2023), but supply remains well behind demand.

Housing affordability: good or bad news according to one’s perspective, the average house price was $907,274, considerably down from its peak at the turn of 2022 but largely unchanged since last year.

Incomes: median weekly earnings from wages and salaries increased by NZ$37 to $1,380 in the year to June, but lagged behind the inflation rate.

Tourism is one of New Zealand’s most important export earners: The Economist ranked Aotearoa/NZ as the 31st best-performing economy in 2025, up two places from 2024.

Must do better

Climate change: the Climate Change Performance Index recorded another fall for New Zealand, now down to 44th position and classified as an overall “low” performer.

Suicide rate: there were 630 suspected self-inflicted deaths in the 2023–24 financial year (the latest available statistics), a small increase on the year before. That represents a rate of 11 per 100,000 people – lower than the average rate over the past 15 years, although the rate of decrease seems to have stalled.

Prisons: incarceration rates are growing fast, moving past 10,680 people behind bars in March (up from a low of 7,500 in 2022), with strong growth projected.

Gangs: the estimated number of patched gang members and prospects passed the 10,000 mark for the first time.

Child poverty: figures from early 2025 suggested little or no change in the child poverty rate from the year before, with one in seven children living in households experiencing material hardship.

Mental health: UNICEF scored New Zealand a less than reputable 32nd place for worsening youth mental health rates.

Homelessness: estimates put the likely number people living without shelter in New Zealand at more than 5,000.

Migration: a net migration gain in the year to October of 12,400 was the lowest since 2013 (excluding the COVID years). This disguised a dizzying churn between arrivals (138,900) and departures (126,400), with more than 46,400 citizens leaving for Australia.

In short, 2025 was a difficult year. New Zealand often scores well or shows improvement on global indexes, but look closer to home and the devil is in the detail. To borrow a phrase from old school reports: shows great potential but needs to try harder.

Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato

(NAN 31-12-25) This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.