‘Digital’ blamed for lower response rate

Statistics NZ is delaying the results of the 2018 census after the response rate dropped almost 5 per cent from last census.

The agency’s ‘‘digital-first’’ approach has come under fire as one of the culprits for the hole in the data, which will number in the hundreds of thousands.

Interim figures from Statistics NZ shows it has results from 90 per cent of people, compared with

94.5 per cent in 2013 and 94.8 per cent in 2006.

Getting a 100 per cent response rate is never possible and Statistics NZ usually does some follow-up surveying to make sure it has a net coverage of close to the entire country.

The lower response rate means more remedial work will be required and has delayed the release of the first top-level results to March 2019, five months after the original October

2018 deadline.

Statistics Minister James Shaw and Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters are both concerned at the low rate.

‘‘Both the minister of statistics and Stats NZ are concerned at what looks like a lower response rate in this year’s census, based on unofficial preliminary analysis,’’ a spokesman for Shaw said.

‘‘The minister doesn’t believe delaying the release of census data until March next year will have a detrimental effect on any policy decisions.’’

Peters said he had ‘‘no idea’’ why the turnout was so low but said it was ‘‘very disappointing’’.

He said it was everyone’s civic and social responsibility to fill out the census form, and people

‘‘I think the mistakes here have been made by over-enthusiastic technocrats who were excessively enthusiastic about their internet model rather than actually making the census work for New Zealanders.’’

National’s statistics spokesman Nick Smith

in New Zealand should make the small amount of effort needed to be counted.

National’s statistics spokesman Nick Smith has blamed the digital-first approach and inadequate follow up from Statistics NZ when it appeared the approach was failing.

‘‘I think the mistakes here have been made by overenthusiastic technocrats who were excessively enthusiastic about their internet model rather than actually making the census work for New Zealanders,’’ Smith said.

‘‘I had retirement villages delivered one census pack and code number for over 100 different residences. I had the same thing happen in my local student hostel,’’ Smith said.

Shaw said Statistics NZ had acknowledged the digital-first approach may have had hiccups.