Stats NZ has discovered an error in last year's official child poverty statistics.
The corrected data has been independently reviewed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. (file pic) Photo: 123RF
The error affected the median income for the year to June 2020, which is used to provide the thresholds for child poverty reporting.
Before the error was detected, the statistics showed there had been a statistically significant decrease over the last two years - prior to Covid-19 - across three of the nine child poverty measures.
The corrected figures now show a significant decrease across five of the nine measures.
The corrected data has been independently reviewed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The mistake also affects household income and housing costs statistics.
Corrections to those figures will be published next week.
Stats NZ said it regretted the error and apologised.