Census data important for helping in Cyclone Gabrielle rebuild - Stats NZ

Data from the 2023 Census will help shape the recovery in regions hardest hit by Cyclone Gabrielle and other weather events, Stats NZ says.

Census Day is 7 March, however, residents in parts of the North Island are being allowed an extra eight weeks to fill in their forms.

Stats NZ's deputy government statistician Simon Mason told Morning Report the agency did not want the nationwide survey postponed in the wake of a summer of disastrous weather events.

It had recommended an eight-week extension of the data collection period for those whose lives have been most severely affected and the government had agreed to it, he said.

"That struck the right balance between doing the census in a timely period, bearing in mind the census data will actually be needed for the recovery so it strikes that balance."

The census had also been designed so that the information gathered could be supplemented by data from other government agencies.

Mason said the impact of bad weather had created a complicated situation, however, it should be remembered for around 96 percent of the population it was "business as usual".

People could complete their census forms ahead of 7 March, including online.

The census was more flexible now - already 400,000 people have filled in their forms, mostly online, and people could proactively go onto census.govt.nz including on a cellphone.

Asked how Stats NZ was avoiding the mistakes that marred the 2018 census which resulted in a low participation rate, Mason said 44 percent more paper forms were being made available and also it had established a closer collaboration with iwi.

"Areas that weren't best served by the previous census and that seems to be going really well as well.

"They know the community, they're from the community. They'll be able to represent the community in a much closer way than what we aspire to do."