Cultural Indicators for New Zealand 2009

Indicators are high-level, summary measures of key issues or phenomena that are used to monitor positive or negative changes over time. The evaluative nature of indicators distinguishes them from the more descriptive nature of statistics. One of the key purposes of indicators is to reduce the large volume of statistical information available, to a small number of key measures that allow trends to be monitored.

The cultural indicators presented in this report are designed to measure the extent to which the cultural sector is moving towards, or away from, the high-level outcomes identified for the sector that is, they indicate whether there is an improvement or deterioration in the well-being of the cultural sector.

This is the second time that Cultural Indicators for New Zealand has been published. The report presents a number of new indicators, and many of the indicators have been updated. The previous report was published in 2006, and can be downloaded from Statistics New Zealands website. "New evidence shows that people think culture is more important to our sense of national identity than either sport or the economy," said Lewis Holden, Chief Executive, Ministry for Culture and Heritage. "But perhaps more important is the contribution of the cultural sector to the economy. The arts and cultural sector is a significant part of the workforce with more than 126,000 people now employed in the cultural workforce," said Mr Holden.

The overall percentage of people employed in cultural occupations has increased from 6 percent in the 2006 report to almost 7 percent in the 2009 report.

"Evidenc that employment in the cultural sector is growing is especially heartening as it dispels age old myths that pursuing study or work in the arts is a fruitless task. The arts and cultural sector provides work not only for artists, curators, designers, screenwriters and musicians but also for builders, accountants, printers and many more," said Mr Holden. "The sector also provides real economic benefits to New Zealand's economy in terms of the income and value added to the economy. The cultural indicators suggest that cultural and creative industries have grown at least at pace with the rest

of the economy." The Cultural Indicators report is made up of nineteen indicators and five themes: engagement, cultural identity, diversity, social cohesion and economic development.

Median incomes for those in creative occupations ($36,800) remain slightly above the national median for all occupations ($33,700). New Zealand households spent $2.84 billion on cultural items in 2006-07, a slight decline from 2003-04. This was 3.6 percent of all household expenditure. Hours of local content on television have increased substantially in the last five years, though this is the result of additional new channels being available, and the proportion (26 percent) is the same as five years ago. The income of the cultural industries has remained largely stable at just above $12 billion.