National Party statistics spokesperson Simon Watts has expressed concern that Stats NZ is unlikely to achieve its goal of receiving responses from at
National Party statistics spokesperson Simon Watts has expressed concern that Stats NZ is unlikely to achieve its goal of receiving responses from at least 90% of the population for this year’s census. Although the Minister of Statistics, Deborah Russell, believes it is too early to make such a prediction. Stats NZ reported that, as of 9am on Monday, 4,408,894 people had returned their Census forms, representing an 86% response rate, but there is still time for people to complete them.The government has extended the deadline until June, and people who do not complete their census may face a fine too. The collection of data from the Census is important for government decision-making. The 2023 Census is expected to be an improvement over the 2018 Census, despite the lower response rates.
