Social Hazards
The ‘Social Hazards’ section monitors four critical areas: alcohol use, illicit drug use and convictions, gambling and problem debt. While most actions associated with these areas are legal, they are heavily regulated; others, like illicit drug use, remain illegal. All four areas have the potential to create significant harm. Alcohol, drugs and gambling have addictive elements that can profoundly impact individuals, their whānau and wider communities. Similarly, problem debt can impose financial and emotional strain, exacerbating family stress and hardship.
Estimates of average total weekly consumption of selected illicit drugs (kgs)—2019–2024
The New Zealand Police Wastewater Drug Testing Programme recorded a sharp increase in methamphetamine, MDMA and cocaine use in quarter ending September 2024, signalling a rise in illicit drug-related harm nationwide. Methamphetamine remains the most harmful drug, despite only 1.3 percent of the population using it. In September 2024, weekly methamphetamine use doubled to 32.4 kilograms, causing $34 million in social harm. MDMA rose to 8.5 kilograms weekly (a 22% increase), costing $1.8 million, while cocaine reached 5.5 kilogramss weekly (an 86% increase), with $2.1 million in harm costs per week. Cannabis remains the most-used illicit drug (15.6% of adults), but is not measured through wastewater testing.
Electronic gambling machine venue numbers decreased across all deprivation levels, with the most significant declines in medium-high and high deprivation areas—36.3 percent (427 to 272) and 21.1 percent (408 to 322), respectively—reflecting the impact of the sinking lid policy, particularly in areas with high deprivation which have a high density of EGM venues. Despite these reductions, over 60 percent of venues remain in high deprivation areas, with each EGM causing an average annual loss of $18,732 in 2024 (up from $16,310 in 2019), underscoring the ongoing challenge of gambling-related harm in vulnerable communities.
Location and number of EGM venues by deprivation rating—2015 and 2024
Household debt and servicing as a percentage of disposable income—2019–2024
Household debt, which includes mortgages, consumer loans and student loans, peaked at 176 percent of disposable income in early 2022 before declining to 167 percent by mid-2024, driven initially by strong housing market growth, low interest rates and borrowing facilitated by the Reserve Bank’s low official cash rate (OCR). From 2022 onwards, regulatory changes, stricter loan-to-value ratio (LVR) restrictions, cooling property prices and rising interest rates reduced new borrowing and encouraged repayment. In contrast, debt servicing costs fell from 8.1 percent of disposable income in early 2019 to 5 percent by late 2021, but surged to 10.3 percent by mid-2024. This was driven by rapidly rising interest rates, as the OCR increased to combat inflation, alongside reduced purchasing power of disposable income due to inflation and higher living costs, despite the overall decline in debt levels.
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Data: Social Hazards Interactive Dashboard
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