At the start of 2025, we updated the emotions list to reduce overlap and improve balance. New Zealanders' top three emotions over both January and February were all positive, with happy, relaxed, and optimistic leading the way.

• Happy / Joyful: a newly added emotion, ranked first place in February (56%) and increased by 5pp since January.
• Relaxed: a newly added emotion, ranked second place in February and increased by 8pp since January.
• Optimistic: has seen a decline since December (-6pp) and has remained stable this year (44%).

• Motivated: surprisingly, saw a drop in January (-5pp), and came back up to 42% in February.
• Stressed: dropped by 5pp in January and came back up to 41% in February.
• Hopeful: this emotion was removed at the start of this year but ended on a high as nearly half of New Zealanders felt hopeful in December.
• Frustrated: saw a decrease near the end of last year (-5pp from October to November) but has now increased to 38% in February (+3pp since January).
• Anxious: saw a notable decrease in November last year (-7pp) and is slowly going back up this year, with 38% of New Zealanders feeling anxious in February.

Towards the end of last year, the proportion of New Zealanders who believed the country was headed in the right direction followed an upwards trend, peaking at 46% in December. However, this positive sentiment softened (-3pp) and has remained stable during the new year.

In February, 57% of New Zealanders felt the country was headed in the wrong direction. This negative sentiment was mainly driven by women (66% compared to 47% of men) and those living in the South Island (73% vs. 52% of North Islanders).

What's driving wrong direction sentiment?

The healthcare system remains the top area that New Zealanders believe is heading in the wrong direction. Although the proportion of people who believe this has been declining since June 2024, it continues to be the main area of concern by far. This negative sentiment is mainly driven by women (75% vs. 58% of men), and those living in a child-free household (74% vs 58% of households with children).

Concerns around the country’s crime and punishment and New Zealand’s leadership and politics, and the environment saw a notable increase at the beginning of this year (+6pp, +7pp, and +5pp respectively). However, these have softened in February.

What's driving right direction sentiment?

New Zealanders’ personal lives continue to be the top area they believe is going in the right direction, mainly being driven by those aged over 55 (83%, vs. 67% and 63% for younger cohorts). Positively, New Zealanders’ beliefs around their financial situation seems to be improving, as this sentiment has increased by 10pp since June last year (61% in February 2025).

Interestingly, 'New Zealand’s relationship with other countries’ has been declining since November 2024 (-11pp).

New Zealanders’ financial situation continues to improve

Positive shifts were seen in New Zealanders’ financial situation over the past few months, with the proportion of those who were able to cover the essentials but have little/nothing left over to save decreasing by 9pp since November last year. A notable increase was seen in the proportion of those who are living on the returns of their investments (+7pp since November 2024), with 13% of New Zealanders stating this in February 2025.

This positive shift also mirrored a decline in the proportion of New Zealanders who are having to cut back on spending due to the cost of living, with this group decreasing by 8pp since November last year.

This positive shift is also seen in the decline of the proportion of New Zealanders who are having to cut back on spending due to the cost of living, with this group decreasing by 8pp since November last year.