MIND & MATTERS

Understanding the hearts and minds of New Zealanders

Insights designed to help you better understand public sentiment, from macro trends to behaviours and attitudes towards key interest areas.

New Zealand consumer shopping in a store

Future outlook

New Zealanders' confidence hit a turning point in March, with unprecedented numbers now expecting conditions to get worse.

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Direction

The majority of New Zealanders remain negative about the direction the country is headed.

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Current mood

February-March saw a significant increase in the levels of stress and anxiety.

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Cost of living and inflation

38% of Kiwis are spending on essentials with little to nothing left to save.

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Most important issues

Cost of living dominates Kiwi concerns.

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Download reports

Download collated versions of our findings as well as our latest special reports focussing on specific topical issues.

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Future outlook

Some significant shifts are seen in March when it comes to Kiwis’ 12-month outlook, with a significantly higher proportion of them claiming they expect things to get worse in the next 12 months – the highest proportion we’ve seen to date. This corresponds to a notable decrease in those who believe things will remain ‘about the same’.

 

😀  Positive outlook


"I feel optimistic about the future."

"Moving country for more opportunity."

"I start a fresh new job opportunity and I’m really excited."

 

🙁  Negative outlook


"Prices going up, harder to save."

"Rise in fuel prices which has a major impact to the industry the business operates in."

"Global conflicts, the economic conditions, the government's policies."

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As part of Omnicom Intelligence, we have launched Fuel Shockwaves, a new report series tracking how global fuel disruptions are reshaping consumer behaviour across New Zealand and Australia.

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Direction

New Zealanders started the year in a positive note, with ‘right direction’ increasing to 46% in January and ‘wrong direction’ dropping to 54%. However, March saw the opposite with just under 70% of Kiwis thinking the country is headed in the wrong direction – the highest proportion we’ve seen to date. 

 

 

 

The New Zealand economy is now the leading concern, having increased significantly since January, alongside rising concerns about the country’s leadership and politics.

Kiwis began the year on a positive note, with all top five “right direction” measures improving in January. However, March has brought notable declines, especially in perceptions of work or business, personal financial situations, and New Zealand’s relationships with other countries.

 

 

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Current mood

January saw New Zealanders feeling happy and relaxed, with very low levels of stress, frustration or anxiety. Unfortunately, with a backdrop of rising geopolitical tension and rising cost of living exacerbated by fuel, February-March has seen a significant increase in the levels of stress and anxiety with stress the leading emotion in March.

 

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Top 3 emotions by gender

 

Women especially are demonstrating higher levels of stress, anxiety and frustration.

 

 

Top 3 emotions by age

 

Impacts are more pronounced amongst younger New Zealanders/Kiwis, while those of retirement age continue to be relaxed and optimistic.

 

 

Top 3 emotions by household

 

 

 

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Household impacts

Key expenditure cuts for New Zealanders

Here are the key spending categories New Zealanders consider essential and are unable to reduce, along with the top categories they would cut back on first for the month of October.

Unable to cut back/essential

  1. Rent – 90%
  2. Council rates – 89%
  3. Mortgage – 86%
  4. Vehicle insurance – 69%
  5. House and/or contents insurance – 69%

Would cut back on first

  1. Alcohol/tobacco/vapes – 72%
  2. Consumer electronics and appliances – 69%
  3. Entertainment, media and streaming – 69%
  4. Clothing and footwear – 68%
  5. Homeware and décor – 67%
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Financial situation

The latest results show that 38% of Kiwis are spending on essentials with little to nothing left to save - the highest proportion we’ve seen in the past couple of years.

 

Inflation’s impact on Kiwi households has remained relatively stable overall, however, the share of households reporting no impact has halved since December.

 

Looking ahead to 2026, just under 60% of Kiwis feel confident about their ability to meet their financial needs. 

 

 

 

 

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Most important issues in NZ

Cost of living dominates Kiwi concerns, with economic pressures far outweighing all other issues.


Looking ahead, what would you say are the most important issues for New Zealand in 2026?

 

Q1_Top3-issues

 

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Download reports

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Suitcase or Staycation? | New Zealanders' summer plans

October - December 2025

In 2024 we asked New Zealanders about their summer plans. In 2025 we revisited the topic to see what has (or hasn’t) changed.

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Click or Clinic? | Healthcare advice in New Zealand

Jul - Sep 2025

In this issue we ask Kiwis about their perceptions and experiences of getting health advice in New Zealand.

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Pipe Dream or Possibility | Home buying intentions in 2025

Apr - Jun 2025

We asked Kiwi first home buyers about their perceptions and experiences of the current market.

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Testing the waters | New Zealand water management perceptions

Jan - Mar 2025

We asked New Zealanders about their perceptions of how their water is managed.

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Rolling report | 2025

Jan 2025 - ongoing

A rolling compilation of monthly findings from January 2025 onwards.

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Jingle bills | Holiday spending and new year resolutions

Nov - Dec 2024

We asked New Zealanders about their summer spending and new year priorities.

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6 month report | H2 2024

Jul - Oct 2024

A rolling compilation of monthly findings from July 2024 onwards.

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Life's a beach | New Zealander's summer plans

Aug - Oct 2024

We asked New Zealanders what their plans were for summer.

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Rainy days | Financial wellbeing

May - Jul 2024

We asked New Zealanders what they were doing to improve their financial situation.

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End of the road | EV/hybrid road user charges

Feb - Apr 2024

We asked New Zealanders what they thought about the road user charge changes.

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6 month report | H1 2024

Jan - Jun 2024

A compilation of monthly findings from January to June 2024.

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Mind&Matters_Jul-Sep-2023_WebPage

Quarterly report 2023

Jul - Sep 2023

A quarterly summary of Mind & Matter insights from July to September 2023.

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Talking-Points_HolidaySpendingResolutions_2023-WebPage

Holiday spending and new year resolutions 2023/24

Nov 2023 - Jan 2024

We asked New Zealanders about their holiday spending and priorities for 2024.

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About this tracker

What is Mind & Matters?

Mind & Matters is designed to help business and leaders better understand public sentiment. From macro trends to behaviours and attitudes towards key interest areas, such as such as cost of living, personal finance, future outlook, wellbeing and more, Mind & Matters is your comprehensive check-in on the state-of-mind of the New Zealand public.

Why we’re running this tracker?

In April 2020, in the midst of a pandemic lockdown, Perceptive and Sapien built the first Covid-19 Tracker to help businesses and leaders better understand the hearts and minds of Kiwis as we experienced this unprecedented event.          
         
Fast forward to 2023 and the world—and New Zealand—continues to experience change on multiple fronts, from rising inflation to the rise of eCommerce and generative AI. With this in mind, Perceptive and Sapien have taken the best of our Covid-19 tracker produce this comprehensive tracker that explores what Kiwis think, feel and believe in relation to some of the most topical and challenging issues of today.

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