Since April New Zealanders’ top two emotions have been happy and relaxed. While happiness levels dropped as we switched to daylight savings, more Kiwi’s reported feeling relaxed during the winter months.

July saw a marked uptick in positive emotions, with happiness and optimism both increasing sharply. Similarly, after a spike in stress and anxiety in May, both measures have declined across June and July.

These recent improvements in happiness were driven largely by women. In contrast, men’s happiness has been largely stable over winter, with men being more likely than women to have felt relaxed.

There were also marked variations by age group. Young New Zealanders (18-34s) were happier than older cohorts throughout winter, while those aged 35+ were the most likely to show a seasonal slump in happiness.

The majority of New Zealanders remain negative about the direction the country is headed with only 41% feeling things are going in the right direction this year. While still negative, this represents an improvement compared to 2024 (average 43%).

While results remain relatively stable, there are marked differences between younger and older audiences, with those 18-34 showing a strong upswing in ‘right direction’ across June (56%) and July (52%). In contrast, there has been an increase in ‘wrong direction’ sentiment amongst those 35-64 with two-thirds feeling New Zealand is heading the wrong way (July 67%).

What's driving wrong direction sentiment?

Concerns over healthcare have reduced since April (67%), although it remains the top concern, with 59% (July) feeling it is heading in the wrong direction. This continuing negative sentiment is mainly driven by women (67% vs 52% of men), and those 35-64 years of age (68% vs 44% 18-34 years).

The next greatest areas of concern are New Zealand’s leadership and politics (56% wrong direction) and the New Zealand economy (55%). Leadership is unchanged but concerns over the economy have worsened since April (53%). Concerns over both issues are strongest among those aged 35-64 years (59% leadership, 60% economy wrong direction) and those in the South Island (65% leadership, 62% economy wrong direction).

What's driving right direction sentiment?

New Zealanders’ personal lives continue to be the number one thing that is going in the right direction (73%), with higher agreement for those at both ends of the age spectrum (77% 18-34s, 80% 65+ years).

New Zealanders’ beliefs around their financial situation has remained largely stable in recent months but is tracking well above 2024 (52%, July 2024 vs 57% July 2025).

Kiwis increasingly able to prioritise savings but forced to modify spending

July saw a dip in the proportion of New Zealanders whose income only ‘covers the essentials’ (30% July down from a spike of 35% in May), with a corresponding increase in those ‘saving for future wealth goals' (26% July, 23% May). Two-thirds (66%) of New Zealand families are able to save, either for emergencies and for longer term goals; it’s only those of retirement age and above where the proportion of those who are able to save falls below 50%.

Cost of living sees most Kiwis cutting back

Cost of living/rising inflation continues to be a challenge with almost three-quarters (72%) of New Zealanders claiming to have cut back their spending either significantly or moderately. In July, 42% were cutting back moderately and a further 30% were cutting back significantly. This has increased from the two-thirds of New Zealanders who were cutting back their spending at the start of the year (65% January 2025).

This need to cut back is evident with increases across all age groups since January. However, it is especially strong among households with children, increasing from 61% in January to 78% in July, and those over 34 years (60% in January vs 80% July).

With the cost of living pressures continuing, we’ve noted strong increases since January in the proportion of New Zealanders saying they would ‘cut back first’ on entertainment (58% January 2025 vs 68% July 2025) and alcohol/tobacco and vapes (46% January 2025 vs 55% July 2025).