Editing Economy of New Zealand (section)

=== Inequality ===
{{main|Economic inequality in New Zealand
}}
[[File:State Housing in Oranga, Auckland, 1947.jpg|thumb|right |In the [[interwar period|interwar]] and [[post-war]] periods, successive governments sponsored a massive [[State housing in New Zealand|state housing]] programme]]
Between 1982 and 2011 New Zealand's [[gross domestic product]] grew by 35%. Almost half of that increase went to a small group who were already the richest in the country. During this period, the average income of the top 10% of earners in New Zealand (those earning more than $72,000)<ref name="NZ income gap at crisis level">{{cite news|url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9182609/NZ-income-gap-at-crisis-level-author|title=NZ income gap at crisis level |work =[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]]|date=19 September 2013}}</ref> almost doubled going from $56,300 to $100,200. The average income of the poorest tenth increased by 13% from $9700 to $11,000.<ref name="Paradise for a few">{{cite news|url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10892133|title=Paradise for a few|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date= 22 June 2013}}</ref>

[[Statistics New Zealand]], which keeps track of income disparity using the P80/20 ratio, confirms the increase in income  inequality. The ratio shows the difference between high household incomes (those in the 80th percentile) and low household incomes (those in the 20th percentile). The inequality ratio increased between 1988 and 2004, and decreased until the onset of the [[Great Recession]], increasing again to 2011 and then declining again from then. By 2013 the disposable income of high-income households was more than two-and-a-half times larger than that of low-income households.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-progress-indicators/Home/Social/income-inequality.aspx|title= New Zealand Progress Indicators:Income inequality|publisher=[[Statistics New Zealand]]|date=August 2014|access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> 

In 2020, the [[OECD]] gave New Zealand a [[Gini coefficient|Gini inequality coefficient]] of 0.320 or [[List of countries by income equality|25th (out of 37) in the OECD]].