How many New Zealanders have health insurance?

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed annually, or sooner if the rules it describes change.

In 2024/25 about 1.5 million New Zealand adults, or 35%, had private health insurance, according to the Ministry of Health's New Zealand Health Survey as reported in a MartinJenkins report commissioned by the Financial Services Council (FSC) in May 2026 (1,519,000 adults; 29% of children were also insured) (MartinJenkins: Insurance and the New Zealand healthcare system, retrieved 20 October 2026). The report says coverage "has been relatively static over the last 10 years". That is the sourced answer; the other figure you may see, 28%, is explained below.

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The headline series

Year	Adults with private health insurance	Children with private health insurance
2015/16	35%	28%
2016/17	35%	28%
2017/18	36%	30%
2018/19	35%	30%
2019/20	35%	30%
2020/21	35%	31%
2021/22	36%	34%
2022/23	37%	29%
2023/24	35%	28%
2024/25	35%	29%

New Zealand Health Survey, Ministry of Health, as charted in the MartinJenkins report (Figure 8), retrieved 20 October 2026. We read the figures from the report; we did not open the survey's own data explorer.

Who holds it

The same report charts 2024/25 survey figures for adults. The privately insured are not spread evenly.

Group	Share of adults with private health insurance
Least deprived neighbourhoods (quintile 1)	49.1%
Most deprived neighbourhoods (quintile 5)	18.1%
Aged 15 to 24	32.4%
Aged 25 to 34	33.0%
Aged 35 to 44	41.0%
Aged 45 to 54	45.2%
Aged 55 to 64	40.3%
Aged 65 to 74	27.4%
Aged 75 and over	16.5%
Asian	37.6%
European/Other	37.6%
Māori	21.4%
Pacific	17.5%
Disabled	19.6%
Non-disabled	36.5%

Source: Ministry of Health, New Zealand Health Survey 2024/25, as charted in the MartinJenkins report (Figure 15). Ethnic groups are total response, so a person can appear in more than one. By health region the range was 31.3% (Midland) to 38.1% (Northern).

The report describes the privately insured as tending to be better educated, with higher incomes, European or Asian, and middle-aged. Coverage is lower among people aged 65 and over in the survey data. See our health insurance cost by age guide.

Industry data: workplace cover, cancellations and claims

The FSC's own member dataset gives a second view, from the insurers rather than from households. These are industry figures, and the FSC commissioned the report, so read them as the industry describing itself.

Measure	Figure	Source
Insured people covered through a workplace or group scheme	43% (2025)	FSC health insurance member dataset
Insured people holding an individual policy after leaving an employer scheme (continuation options)	11% (2025)	FSC health insurance member dataset
Insured people who ended their policy	9% in 2025, up from 7% in 2022	FSC member dataset
People who ended major medical cover	80,770 in 2025 (the report's chart shows 80,771)	FSC article; MartinJenkins Figure 21
Average health claim paid per member	$1,921 in 2025, up 75% from $1,097 in 2021	FSC
Policies that are major medical only	67% (2025)	FSC member dataset

Sources: FSC: The overlooked role of insurance in New Zealand's health system and the MartinJenkins report, retrieved 20 October 2026. Our news story on the FSC figures works through what the 80,770 and the claims rise do and do not show. The report says terminations include lapses, surrenders and cancellations, and quotes the sector as saying the bigger movement has been people keeping cover by moving to cheaper plans, raising excesses or dropping benefit options. Premium trends are in our health insurance premium inflation data.

Why 35% and 28% both appear

The MartinJenkins report also charts an OECD measure of private health insurance coverage in which New Zealand sits at 28 for 2024, against an OECD29 figure of 36, Australia 55 and the United Kingdom 12 (OECD, Health at a Glance 2025, as charted in the report). The report does not define the population that 28 applies to, and its chart notes say the measure excludes primary private coverage (which exists in Germany, Switzerland and the United States). The 35% is the Health Survey's share of adults who say they have private health insurance. Different bases give different numbers, so we use 35% for New Zealand adults and quote the OECD figure only for the international comparison.

What health cover does and does not do alongside other cover

Private health insurance pays towards treatment such as specialist consultations and elective surgery. It does not pay a lump sum on death, and it is a different product from trauma cover (a lump sum on diagnosis of a listed condition) or life cover. Our page on life and health insurance explains the split, and is health insurance worth it sets out the trade-offs.

If you are weighing guaranteed acceptance life products alongside it, those are a different thing. Momentum Life's Quick Life (ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000, no health questions) does not pay for death from a pre-existing condition in the first 2 years, and its Funeral Insurance (ages 40 to 75, $3,000 to $30,000) pays only for accidental death in the first 24 months, with premiums refunded for any other death in that window. Neither pays for medical treatment. Momentum Life Limited holds an A.M. Best financial strength rating of B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026, within A.M. Best's "Vulnerable" range (Momentum Life: Financial strength). For the life-cover side of the picture, see life insurance coverage in New Zealand.

What we could not source

The figure of "1.45 million people" that circulates for health insurance membership did not appear in any source we read; the survey figure is 1,519,000 adults. We found no multi-year series of total insured lives or claim payout volumes published as text by the FSC, so we do not give one. The FSC member dataset covers its members, not every insurer.

How we gathered this

We read the FSC article and the MartinJenkins report (dated May 2026, 44 pages) on 20 October 2026. The FSC page shows 28 September 2026 as its own date; the report is the older document. We quote figures only as printed. Percentages are rounded as the sources round them, and survey figures carry sampling error that the report does not state. We will update this page when the FSC or the Ministry of Health publishes a new year.

This is general information, not advice. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy a Momentum Life product through our link (how we are paid). A licensed independent financial adviser can compare private medical cover for you. Back to the statistics hub or see causes of death.

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Insurer: Momentum Life Limited. Financial strength rating B (Fair) from AM Best, affirmed 11 February 2026; B ratings sit in AM Best's 'vulnerable' range. The rating scale is available for inspection at every Momentum Life office in New Zealand. What this means

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Adviser's view

About one in three New Zealand adults has private health insurance, and the share has hardly moved in ten years. The people who hold it skew middle-aged, higher-income and less deprived, and 43% of insured people are covered through a workplace or group scheme. Most of the figures come from reports commissioned by the insurance industry's own body, so we mark which numbers are survey data and which are industry data.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Health Insurance Statistics NZ: Who Is Covered. www.quotehub.co.nz/statistics/health-insurance-membership-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.