Indicator 4: Living alone

Yes.

Using census data, Statistics New Zealand has published on its website data about the number of people aged 65+ who live alone, by age and sex. This data can be used to calculate the proportion of older people living alone.

Data on the number of people aged 65+ living alone, by ethnicity, is not published. However, this information is collected during the census and can be requested from Statistics New Zealand.

In 2001, 32% of all people aged 65+ – who were living in private dwellings and who were home on census night – lived alone. In 2006, this was 31%.

Of the women aged 65+, 43% lived alone in 2001 and 40% lived alone in 2006.