After peaking in the early 1990s, the unemployment rate, as measured by Statistics New Zealand’s Household Labour Force Survey, has fallen to levels not experienced for two decades

Household debt

By December 2008 the outstanding total debt of households had increased more than six times in dollar terms since 1990. As a percentage of households’ disposable income, household debt peaked at over 160% early in 2008, nearing 3 times the December 1990 level. The weighted average interest rate on total household debt however had fallen from over 15% to just above 8.5% per annum (at December 2008, 92% of household debt was housing debt, at an average rate of around 8%). Interest servicing of the increased debt, as a percentage of incomes, was 50% higher than in 1990. At current levels, the ratio of household debt to income (excluding student loans) is similar to those found in Australia and the UK.

Source:  Reserve Bank of New Zealand