New Zealand’s wellbeing: Is it sustainable and what are the risks?

This paper is one in a series the Treasury commissioned to support the first Te Tai Waiora Wellbeing Report, published in November 2022. Te Tai Waiora Wellbeing Report is a new stewardship document that the Treasury must produce every four years following the passage of the Public Finance (Wellbeing) Amendment Act 2020. Te Tai Waiora Wellbeing Report will sit alongside the Long-term Fiscal Statement, Investment Statement and Long-term Insights Briefing as part of a suite of regular strategic assessments by the Treasury of Aotearoa New Zealand’s economic, fiscal, social and environmental health. Te Tai Waiora Wellbeing Report has the broadest scope of the four reports. The relevant section of the Public Finance Act 1989 requires the Treasury, using indicators, to describe: - the state of wellbeing in New Zealand - how the state of wellbeing in New Zealand has changed over time - the sustainability of and any risk to the state of wellbeing in New Zealand. Rather than attempt to cover this scope comprehensively in a single document, we will be publishing a series of more-detailed working papers and analytical papers over the course of this year to support the final report. These will be available from the Treasury website as these are released. These papers will be capped by a final report in November 2022, Te Tai Waiora Wellbeing Report itself, which will be a shorter document drawing together the key conclusions from the more-detailed analytical pieces. This paper addresses the third requirement of the legislation. It uses the available data and evidence to provide an overview of the risks to and sustainability of wellbeing in New Zealand. It is focused on risks to national wellbeing, not risks to the current wellbeing of individuals, communities or subgroups