29 October 2025
Tēnā koe Chris McCashin
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your email of 30 September 2025, requesting information about
New Zealand Superannuation.
I have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
Please find my decision on your request below.
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I am requesting the following
information regarding New Zealand Superannuation (pension) payments
administered by the Ministry of Social Development:
•
The total number of NZ Superannuation recipients, broken down by
year, from 2010 to the most recent available date.
•
A breakdown of recipients by age brackets (e.g., 65–69, 70–74, 75–
79, 80+) for each year in this period.
The attached
Appendix provides the number of New Zealand Superannuation
clients as at the end of December 2010 to August 2025 broken down by age group.
The information below may also be useful for you, as the Ministry regularly
publishes quarterly data on our website, which includes Excel data tables for
both New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans pension. You can access these
Excel tables, at the following link:
www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-
work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/index.html.
•
The total monthly cost of NZ Superannuation payments for each
month from January 2010 to the most recent available month.
Your request for a monthly breakdown is refused under section 18(f) of the Act.
Due to how New Zealand Superannuation information is recorded within Ministry
systems, and how payments are distributed, to provide you with this information
would require substantial manual collation and would divert staff from their core
duties. The greater public interest is in the effective and efficient administration of
the public service.
I have considered whether the Ministry would be able to respond to your request
given extra time, or the ability to charge for the information requested. I have
concluded that, in either case, the Ministry’s ability to undertake its work would
still be prejudiced.
The Aurora Centre, 56 The Terrace, PO Box 1556, Wellington
– Telephone 04-916 3300 – Facsimile 04-918 0099
The Ministry can provide you with the annual accrued New Zealand Superannuation
costs for each financial year, which is publicly available information and can be
found on the Ministry’s website, here:
www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-
work/publications-resources/corporate/annual-report/.
I will be publishing this decision letter, with your personal details deleted, on the
Ministry’s website in due course.
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[MSD request email]. If you are not satisfied with my decision on your request, you have the right to
seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to
make a complaint is available
at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi nui
pp.
Anna Graham
General Manager
Ministerial and Executive Services
