Quality Statement
An absentee is identified on the census dwelling form (paper) or the household set-up form (online) as someone who usually lives in a particular dwelling but had not completed a census individual form there – because they were elsewhere in New Zealand or overseas on census night. They may have completed a census individual form elsewhere in New Zealand.
An individual must be listed as absent on a census form to be counted as an absentee.
Entire households away from their usual residence will not be identified as absentees because there is no one at their usual residence to identify them as such. Absentees are therefore a result of the census collection process, and do not measure the entire population away from their usual residence on census night.
This concept covers the variables number of absentees, absentee in New Zealand on census night, and absentee time away from New Zealand.
Number of absentees: The number of census night absentees for a dwelling.
Absentee in New Zealand on census night: An indicator that identifies whether an absentee was elsewhere in New Zealand on census night or if they were overseas.
Absentee time away from New Zealand: The total length of time (less than, equal to, or more than 12 months) that an absentee, who has been identified as overseas on census night, will be away from New Zealand.
Number of absentees: Moderate quality
Absentee in New Zealand on census night: Moderate quality
Absentee time away from New Zealand: Moderate quality
Data quality processes section below has more detail on the rating.
Priority level 2
A priority level is assigned to all census concepts: priority 1, 2, or 3 (with 1 being highest and 3 being the lowest priority).
Absentees is a priority 2 concept. Priority 2 concepts cover key subject populations that are important for policy development, evaluation, or monitoring. These concepts are given second priority in terms of quality, time, and resources across all phases of a census.
The census priority level for absentees has decreased from priority level 1 in 2018. This is due to changes in census methodology as absentees is no longer used in calculating counts.
2023 Census: Final content report has more information on the priority ratings for census concepts.
Number of absentees: Occupied private dwellings
Absentee in New Zealand on census night: Absentees from occupied private dwellings
Absentee time away from New Zealand: Absentees from occupied private dwellings who are away from New Zealand on census night
‘Subject population’ means the people, families, households, or dwellings that the variable applies to.
Number of absentees
Number of absentees is classified into the following categories:
Census number of absentees classification V2.1.0 – level 1 of 2
Code | Category |
---|---|
0000 | No absentees |
0001 | 1 absentee |
0002 | 2 absentees |
0003 | 3 absentees |
… | … |
0098 | 98 absentees |
0099 | 99 absentees or more |
9999 | Not elsewhere included |
The level 1 category ‘Not elsewhere included’ contains the residual categories ‘Response unidentifiable’ and ‘Not stated’. Follow the link above the table to examine the classification in more detail.
The 2023 Census classification for ‘number of absentees’ is consistent with that used in 2018 Census.
Absentee in New Zealand on census night
Absentee in New Zealand on census night is classified into the following categories:
In New Zealand on census night V1.1.0 – level 1 of 2
Code | Category |
---|---|
01 | Absentee in New Zealand on census night |
02 | Absentee not in New Zealand on census night |
99 | Not elsewhere included |
Absentee in New Zealand on census night uses a 2-level hierarchical classification with level 1 categories presented in the table above. The level 1 category ‘Not elsewhere included’ contains the residual categories ‘Response unidentifiable’ and ‘Not stated’. Follow the link above the table to examine the classification in more detail.
The 2023 Census classification for absentee in New Zealand on census night is consistent with that used in 2018 Census.
Absentee time away from New Zealand
Absentee time away from New Zealand is classified into the following categories:
Census Time Away from New Zealand Classification V2.1.0 – level 1 of 2
Code | Category |
---|---|
01 | Away from New Zealand for less than 12 months |
02 | Away from New Zealand for 12 months or more |
99 | Not elsewhere included |
Absentee time away from New Zealand uses a 2-level hierarchical classification with level 1 categories presented in the table above. The level 1 category ‘Not elsewhere included’ contains the residual categories ‘Response unidentifiable’ and ‘Not stated’. Follow the link above the table to examine the classification in more detail.
The 2023 Census classification for absentee time away from New Zealand is consistent with that used in 2018 Census.
Standards and classifications has information on what classifications are, how they are reviewed, where they are stored, and how to provide feedback on them.
Absentee data is derived from the absentee indicator, number of absentees, and absentee relationship to reference person, on the online household setup form (questions 19, 20, and 21 on the paper form).
On the online household setup form, absentee data comes from the absentee indicator and absentee age, gender, and relationship to reference person questions. On the online form the respondent was also asked to confirm that the number of absentees (generated from the absentee details the respondent had provided) was correct.
There were changes to the question wording and format from the 2018 Census:
- absentee sex has been changed to absentee gender with three tick box options
- to align with the change to gender, absentee relationship to reference person has had the tick box descriptions changed to gender-neutral options (spouse/partner, parent, child, sibling).
There were differences in question wording, layout, and the way a person could respond between the modes of collection (online and paper forms).
On the online form:
- the question “Are there any people who usually live at [address] who are away on the night of Tuesday, 7 March 2023?” allowed only one response, either ‘yes’ or ‘no’, to be selected. If a further response was selected, the first response disappeared.
- if the respondent ticked ‘yes’ to the absentee question on the household setup form, the absentee details section automatically displayed and it was mandatory to give at least one name, but optional to provide further details such as their age, gender, relationship to the person completing the form, whether they were in New Zealand on census night, and if not in New Zealand how long they are away for.
On the paper form:
- non-response, responses outside the valid range, and multiple responses were possible. Edits were used to resolve these responses in the data.
Data from online forms may therefore be of higher overall quality than data from paper forms. However, processing checks and edits were in place to improve the quality of the paper forms.
Number of absentees is derived from a count of absentee flags for a particular dwelling, instead of directly from a question on the form.
Stats NZ Store House has samples for both the individual and dwelling paper forms.
Data-use outside Stats NZ:
- absentee data informs family and household derivations which are widely used by a range of government organisations, local councils, and researchers.
Data-use by Stats NZ:
- absentee data is an input to the derivation of family and household variables, and during repatriation (placing individuals who were away from home on census night back into their usual residence dwellings).
Number of absentees
Number of absentees is derived from the count of absentees at a particular dwelling. Therefore, it has no non-response category.
Absentee in New Zealand on census night
Alternative data sources were used for missing and residual census responses and responses that could not be classified or did not provide the type of information asked for. The table below shows the distribution of data sources for absentee in New Zealand on census night data.
Data sources for absentee in New Zealand on census night, as a percentage of absentees from occupied private dwellings, 2023 Census | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Source of absentee in New Zealand on census night data | Percent | |||
2023 Census response | 91.0 | |||
Historical census | 0.0 | |||
Admin data | 8.8 | |||
Deterministic derivation | 0.0 | |||
Statistical imputation | 0.0 | |||
No information | 0.2 | |||
Total | 100.0 | |||
Note: Due to rounding, individual figures may not always sum to the stated total(s) or score contributions. |
Admin border crossing data is used to fill in missing and residual data, and to overwrite a conflicting census response.
Absentee time away from New Zealand
Absentee time away from New Zealand is edited to align with person record type and absentee in New Zealand on census night, resulting in there being no missing information. As a result, data source information is not available for this variable.
Editing, data sources, and imputation in the 2023 Census describes how data quality is improved by editing and how missing and residual responses are filled with alternative data sources (admin data and historical census responses) or statistical imputation. This webpage also contains a spreadsheet that provides additional detail on the admin data sources.
Missing and residual responses represent data gaps where respondents either did not provide answers (missing responses) or provided answers that were not valid (residual responses).
Number of absentees
Number of absentees does not have non-response (‘Not stated’) or any other residual category.
Absentee in New Zealand on census night
Percentage of 'Not stated' for absentees from occupied private dwellings:
- 2023: 0.2 percent
- 2018: 42.3 percent
- 2013: 9.4 percent
For absentee in New Zealand on census night the ‘Response unidentifiable’ and ‘Not stated’ responses are classified as ‘Not elsewhere included’.
Percentage of ‘Not elsewhere included’ for absentees from occupied private dwellings:
- 2023: 0.2 percent
- 2018: 42.3 percent
- 2013: 9.5 percent
The 2018 Census percentages for ‘Not stated’ and ‘Not elsewhere included’ above differ from the those previously published in the 2018 information by variable due to a difference in subject population. The previously published values are for the absentee subject population.
Absentee time away from New Zealand
For absentee time away from New Zealand all records were edited to non-residual codes in 2023 and 2018 Censuses.
Percentage of ‘Not stated’ absentees from occupied private dwellings, who were away from New Zealand on census night:
- 2023: 0.0 percent
- 2018: 0.0 percent
- 2013: 4.4 percent
For output purposes, the residual category responses are grouped with ‘Not stated’ and are classified as ‘Not elsewhere included’.
Percentage of ‘Not elsewhere included’ for absentees from occupied private dwellings, who were away from New Zealand on census night:
- 2023: 0.0 percent
- 2018: 0.0 percent
- 2013: 4.6 percent
Overall quality ratings:
Number of absentees: Moderate
Absentee in New Zealand on census night: Moderate
Absentee time away from New Zealand: Moderate
Data has been evaluated to assess whether it meets quality standards and is suitable for use.
None of these variables have a data source and coverage rating as the absentee concept and these variables do not measure the entire population away from their usual residence on census night, and the true coverage is unknown. Furthermore, both absentee in New Zealand on census night and absentee time away from New Zealand are edited to be consistent with ‘person record type’ and admin border crossing data, and their data sources do not hold the same meaning as for other attributes.
Two quality metrics contribute to the overall quality rating:
- consistency and coherence
- accuracy of responses.
The lowest rated metric determines the overall quality rating.
Data quality assurance in the 2023 Census provides more information on the quality rating scale.
Consistency and coherence ratings:
Number of absentees: Moderate quality
Number of absentees data is mostly consistent with expectations across consistency checks. There is an overall difference in the data compared with expectations as the large number of people admin enumerated into occupied responding dwellings indicates an undercount of absentees, as it is unknown whether these individuals were at their usual residence on census night.
The prolonged collection period in the 2023 Census, which spanned mid-February until the end of June, also added a level of uncertainty to absentee count, as a respondent’s status at the time of filling out the form might have been different from actual census night.
Absentee in New Zealand on census night: Moderate quality
Absentee in New Zealand on census night data is mostly consistent with expectations across consistency checks. There is an overall difference in the data compared with expectations and time series. This is likely caused by a combination of improved responses to the question on the form, data sourcing from admin border crossing records, and consistency edits. There is remaining uncertainty in the accuracy of the data due to the level of change observed in the two previous censuses.
Absentee time away from New Zealand: Moderate quality
The data quality is dependent on the quality of absentee counts and absentee in New Zealand on census night data, both of which have been rated as having moderate quality.
Accuracy of responses ratings:
Number of absentees: Not applicable
Absentee in New Zealand on census night: Moderate quality
Absentee time away from New Zealand: Moderate quality
Number of absentees does not have a rating for accuracy of responses as it is a derived variable.
Absentee in New Zealand on census night and absentee time away from New Zealand data has various data quality issues involving several categories or aspects of the data, or an entire level of a hierarchical classification. The data quality issues could include problems with the classification or coding of data, such as vague responses resulting in coding issues, or responses that cannot be coded to a specific (non-residual) category, thereby reducing the amount of useful, meaningful data available for analysis.
A high number of edits were applied to ensure consistency between these two variables and with admin data and census person record type. This indicates a high level of discrepancy between admin data and respondent data likely caused at least in part by the prolonged collection period, which impacted response accuracy as some respondents completed the forms well before or after census night.
Number of absentees data can be used in a comparable manner to the 2018 and 2013 Censuses, when filtered to its subject population.
Absentee in New Zealand on census night and Absentee time away from New Zealand can be used in a comparable way to the 2013 Census. In 2018, these variables were rated as very poor and are not available for use.
Comparisons to other data sources
There are no other data sources other than the census for absentee data as an ‘absentee’ is a result of the census collection process.
To assess how this concept aligns with the variables from the previous census, use the links:
Contact our Information centre for further information about using this concept.