Digital capability of New Zealand businesses in 2023

The B4B Business Health and Digital Monitor provides a comprehensive and representative overview of New Zealand businesses’ digital adoption, capability, and potential future adaptability. It captures digital capability attributes in a way that enables us to monitor business digital progress over time – including by size and industry.

New Zealand Business Digital Insights 2023

Our latest research found that:

  • Half (52%) of all New Zealand businesses believe they would benefit from being more digital, a slight increase from 49% in the previous year.
  • ‘Information security and fraud’ remains the most frequently identified barrier to further digital enablement by businesses. Two-thirds of businesses experienced cybersecurity issues in the 12 months to March 2023, and half of all respondents state that they regularly consider this threat as they run their business. 
  • Cost and value for money concerns have increased slightly amid ongoing challenging economic conditions. 48% of businesses are not as digitally enabled as they could be because of these concerns.

Business Digital Capability Monitor - Key findings and update May 2023 [PDF, 1 MB]

Published: May 2023, based on data collected during November 2022 – March 2023  

New Zealand Digital Business Digital Index

The Better for Business Digital Index 2021 shows that New Zealand businesses have taken a digital leap forward over the past 12 months. Our latest research found that:

  • Uptake of internal and external tools has increased in 2021 compared to 2020.
  • There is definitely still a need for support: 88% of businesses can identify at least one barrier to further digital enablement and a third can identify at least one critical barrier.
  • Most NZ businesses are now ‘visible’ or ‘discoverable’ online, but many have a passive rather than an active presence and are not using digital tools or channels to promote themselves.
  • The largest barriers to digital enablement are concerns around security and fraud, the difficulty of choosing the right tools, lack of skills, and affordability.

The digital capability of New Zealand businesses in 2021 [PDF, 1.4 MB](external link)

NZ Digital Landscape factsheet - December 2021 [PDF, 150 KB]

Published: March 2022, based on data collected during November 2021

New Zealand Digital Business Index – Benchmark 2020

The Digital Index Benchmark 2020 was based on research conducted with 2,280 businesses in late 2020.

The Digital Index was baselined at 51/100 (as at December 2020) and is being used as a key metric to measure progress against various digital enablement initiatives across government. The methodology is based on similar frameworks used by the OECD and by Lloyd’s Bank in the UK. Our reporting includes some new analysis contributed by BNZ, revealing changes in business purchase behaviour over time.

Understanding the digital capability of New Zealand businesses [PDF, 1.7 MB](external link)

Date published: September 2021 — based on data collected during September – October

NZ Business Digital Landscape – December 2020 [PDF, 103 KB](external link)

Date published: February 2021 — Based on data collected during September – October 2020

More Information

For more information about our Business Research Monitor or to request a copy of any of our reports, please contact us at :

betterforbusiness@mbie.govt.nz

Last updated: 21 December 2023