Where Does Your Tax Dollar Go?

NZ Crown Budget 2024/25 — how $121.3B splits across 47 votes

Total Budget

$121.3B

$22,965/person · $442/week

Votes

74 appropriations

Largest Area

Social Services

63.7% of budget

Largest Vote

Health

$28.6B

Government Debt Interest: $2.1B/year

The government spends $2.1B per year just on interest payments on Crown debt — that is 1.7% of the entire budget, or $398 per person per year ($8/week). This money does not fund any services — it is the cost of past borrowing.

Larger than the entire Arts & Culture budget

1.7c of every $1 spent

NZ Superannuation costs $6.2B — 5.1% of budget

Your Dollar, Split

For every $1.00 the government spends, here is where it goes

Budget by Functional Area

Per-capita based on 5.3M population

All 47 Votes

Vote	Department	Area	Budget	Per Person/Week	% of Total	Per $1
Health	Ministry of Health	Social Services	$28.6B	$104/wk	23.6%	23.6c
Education	Ministry of Education	Social Services	$17.2B	$63/wk	14.2%	14.2c
Social Development	Ministry of Social Development	Social Services	$14.8B	$54/wk	12.2%	12.2c
Finance	The Treasury	Core Government	$9.8B	$36/wk	8.1%	8.1c
Transport	Ministry of Transport	Transport & Infrastructure	$6.8B	$25/wk	5.6%	5.6c
ACC	Accident Compensation Corporation	Social Services	$5.5B	$20/wk	4.5%	4.5c
Housing and Urban Development	Ministry of Housing and Urban Development	Social Services	$4.5B	$16/wk	3.7%	3.7c
Tertiary Education	Tertiary Education Commission	Social Services	$4.2B	$15/wk	3.5%	3.5c
Defence Force	New Zealand Defence Force	Defence & Security	$4.1B	$15/wk	3.4%	3.4c
Business, Science and Innovation	Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment	Economic	$3.2B	$12/wk	2.6%	2.6c
Corrections	Department of Corrections	Law & Order	$2.8B	$10/wk	2.3%	2.3c
Police	New Zealand Police	Law & Order	$2.6B	$10/wk	2.2%	2.2c
Defence	Ministry of Defence	Defence & Security	$2.4B	$9/wk	2.0%	2.0c
Children	Oranga Tamariki	Social Services	$2.1B	$8/wk	1.7%	1.7c
Justice	Ministry of Justice	Law & Order	$1.2B	$4/wk	1.0%	1.0c
Revenue	Inland Revenue	Core Government	$1.1B	$4/wk	0.9%	0.9c
Official Development Assistance	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Core Government	$980.0M	$4/wk	0.8%	0.8c
Primary Industries	Ministry for Primary Industries	Environment	$850.0M	$3/wk	0.7%	0.7c
Internal Affairs	Department of Internal Affairs	Core Government	$850.0M	$3/wk	0.7%	0.7c
Conservation	Department of Conservation	Environment	$780.0M	$3/wk	0.6%	0.6c
Foreign Affairs and Trade	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Core Government	$720.0M	$3/wk	0.6%	0.6c
Courts	Ministry of Justice	Law & Order	$700.0M	$3/wk	0.6%	0.6c
Environment	Ministry for the Environment	Environment	$680.0M	$2/wk	0.6%	0.6c
Arts, Culture and Heritage	Manatū Taonga	Arts & Culture	$520.0M	$2/wk	0.4%	0.4c
Māori Development	Te Puni Kōkiri	Treaty & Māori	$450.0M	$2/wk	0.4%	0.4c
Labour Market	Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment	Economic	$420.0M	$2/wk	0.3%	0.3c
Customs	NZ Customs Service	Law & Order	$380.0M	$1/wk	0.3%	0.3c
Treaty Negotiations	Ministry of Justice	Treaty & Māori	$280.0M	$1/wk	0.2%	0.2c
Building and Construction	Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment	Economic	$260.0M	$1/wk	0.2%	0.2c
Communications Security	Government Communications Security Bureau	Defence & Security	$250.0M	$1/wk	0.2%	0.2c
Lands	Land Information New Zealand	Economic	$230.0M	$1/wk	0.2%	0.2c
Parliamentary Service	Parliamentary Service	Core Government	$210.0M	$1/wk	0.2%	0.2c
Statistics	Stats NZ	Economic	$210.0M	$1/wk	0.2%	0.2c
Sport and Recreation	Sport New Zealand	Arts & Culture	$200.0M	$1/wk	0.2%	0.2c
Forestry	Ministry for Primary Industries	Environment	$180.0M	$1/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Tourism	Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment	Economic	$180.0M	$1/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Prime Minister and Cabinet	Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet	Core Government	$180.0M	$1/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Security Intelligence	NZ Security Intelligence Service	Defence & Security	$150.0M	$1/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Pacific Peoples	Ministry for Pacific Peoples	Social Services	$120.0M	$0/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Audit	Office of the Auditor-General	Core Government	$120.0M	$0/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Social Investment	Social Investment Agency	Social Services	$120.0M	$0/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Attorney-General	Crown Law Office	Law & Order	$90.0M	$0/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Māori Crown Relations	Te Arawhiti	Treaty & Māori	$85.0M	$0/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Veterans' Affairs	Veterans' Affairs New Zealand	Defence & Security	$75.0M	$0/wk	0.1%	0.1c
Ethnic Communities	Ministry for Ethnic Communities	Social Services	$35.0M	$0/wk	0.0%	0.0c
Serious Fraud	Serious Fraud Office	Law & Order	$25.0M	$0/wk	0.0%	0.0c
Women	Ministry for Women	Social Services	$25.0M	$0/wk	0.0%	0.0c

Coming Soon: Downstream Money Flows

We are working on tracing how budget dollars flow downstream from government departments to contractors, charities, and other organisations. For example: your Health dollar goes to Health NZ, which then contracts St John, Plunket, and hundreds of other organisations. Cross-linked with our CharityData and government contracts data.

Source: NZ Treasury — Budget 2024 Estimates of Appropriations · Population: Stats NZ 5.3M (June 2024 estimate)

Data sourced from NZ Treasury Estimates of Appropriations. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz.