2006 Census: Definitions and Questionnaires

The following table gives details of the dates of New Zealand Censuses of Population and Dwellings, together with the lengths of the intervening periods.

^{1 Period since incomplete enumeration of March 1857.}

In the interests of uniformity, a Census Act was passed in 1858 that repealed the 1851 Ordinance and instituted three-yearly general censuses. The first was taken in December 1858 and the series continued up to and including the census of 1874. The abolition of the provinces in 1876 made new legislation necessary, and a Census Act passed in 1877 provided for general censuses to be taken in 1878, 1881 and every fifth year from then on. The 1931 Census was abandoned under direction of the Census Postponement Act 1931 because of the depressed state of the economy, and the census due to be taken in 1941 (during World War II) was postponed until 1945. Tthe census due in 1946 was not held.

It had become customary to hold the census in the autumn but in 1945 this sequence was broken. The Labour Government was anxious to introduce legislation abolishing the 'country quota' that had existed previously. Under this system, a loading of 20 percent was added to rural populations, which meant there were more country electorates, in relation to population, than urban. The government wished to have the redefinition of electorates available in time for the election in 1946, so advanced the date of the census to September 1945.