In 2013, Statistics New Zealand carried out their fourth national survey on disability.
Data from this, the most comprehensive source of information on disabled people in New Zealand, is currently being released and the first publication focuses on the prevalence of disability across population subgroups and on disability rates for specific impairment types.
Key findings from the survey show that in Northland 19 percent of our population have physical limitations and 7 percent have learning difficulties – both higher than the national rates of 14 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
Of the overall number of physically disabled people in New Zealand, 90 percent were limited in their mobility, significantly more were female and just over half of all disabled people had more than one type of impairment.
The most commonly reported cause of disability for adults was disease or illness (42 percent) and for children the most common cause was a condition that existed at birth (49 percent).
The prevalence of disability throughout New Zealand indicates that 24 percent of the population were identified as disabled (1.1 million people or a quarter of New Zealand’s population) and 26 percent of the Maori population were identified as disabled (176,000 people). The survey also shows that both Maori and Pacific people had higher than average disability rates.
Broken down into regions, information collected shows that (not including people living in residential care facilities) Northland has the second highest percentage of people with disabilities at 29 percent, just below Taranaki with 30 percent of their population identified as disabled.
Both the number of disabled people and the disability rate are higher than in earlier surveys (the 2001 rate was 20 percent, an increase of 4 percent). The proportion of the New Zealand population in older age groups is growing, and people in these age groups are more likely to be disabled than younger adults or children.
However Statistics New Zealand reports that population ageing does not account for all of the increase. People may be more willing to report their limitations as public perception of disability changes; methodological improvements to the survey could also be a contributing factor.