Student Loan January – December 2021
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For this report, a student is defined as a person who received at least one payment from StudyLink in the calendar year, up to the end of the specified reporting month.
The data in this report are cumulative calendar year-to-date figures. All percentages are computed using randomly rounded numbers, and then rounded to the nearest one decimal point. Total percentages may not add up to exactly 100 percent because of rounding effects. The last three years of data and annual comparisons are presented in summary tables. Earlier figures are included in the downloadable Excel files.
Demographics of Student Loan Borrowers
The following tables provide a summary profile of Student Loan borrowers from January to December, in the last three years. Detailed data series are available in the downloadable Excel files.
Number of borrowers by age group and gender
Age is calculated as at the end of the period.
| Age group | January to December | Annual change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | |
| 17 years and younger | 429 | 411 | 315 | -4.2% | -23.4% |
| 18–24 years | 96,915 | 95,277 | 94,365 | -1.7% | -1.0% |
| 25–34 years | 31,869 | 33,024 | 33,126 | 3.6% | 0.3% |
| 35–44 years | 12,309 | 12,852 | 12,369 | 4.4% | -3.8% |
| 45–54 years | 6,291 | 6,030 | 5,643 | -4.1% | -6.4% |
| 55 years and older | 1,416 | 1,308 | 1,179 | -7.6% | -9.9% |
| Total number of Student Loan borrowers | 149,229 | 148,905 | 146,994 | -0.2% | -1.3% |
Note: A breakdown of “55 and older” is available in the downloadable Excel file.
| Gender | January to December | Annual change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | |
| Female | 92,241 | 92,868 | 92,985 | 0.7% | 0.1% |
| Male | 56,970 | 55,686 | 53,307 | -2.3% | -4.3% |
| Gender Diverse | 18 | 351 | 705 | 1850.0% | 100.9% |
| Total number of Student Loan borrowers | 149,229 | 148,905 | 146,994 | -0.2% | -1.3% |
Note: In December 2019, forms and online applications were updated to include Gender Diverse, which was not available previously.
Number of borrowers by residential status
| Residential status | January to December | Annual change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | |
| Citizen by birth | 111,540 | 111,471 | 109,593 | -0.1% | -1.7% |
| Citizen | 22,248 | 22,593 | 22,827 | 1.6% | 1.0% |
| Permanent resident | 15,015 | 14,409 | 14,166 | -4.0% | -1.7% |
| Other | 429 | 432 | 405 | 0.7% | -6.3% |
| Total number of Student Loan borrowers | 149,229 | 148,905 | 146,994 | -0.2% | -1.3% |
Note: “Other” includes students who have refugee status, and those classified as protected person/s. Details of “Other” are included in the downloadable Excel file.
Number of responses by ethnic group
It is not mandatory for students to disclose their ethnicity and students may report more than one ethnicity.
The numbers presented in this table are total responses – students who reported more than one ethnic group were counted in each group they identified with. The total number of responses, therefore, does not add up to the total number of Student Loan borrowers.
| Ethnic group (Total response) | January to December | Annual change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | |
| European | 92,565 | 90,606 | 93,027 | -2.1% | 2.7% |
| Māori | 27,558 | 27,492 | 26,553 | -0.2% | -3.4% |
| Pacific Peoples | 15,045 | 15,024 | 14,928 | -0.1% | -0.6% |
| Asian | 23,475 | 23,331 | 24,027 | -0.6% | 3.0% |
| Middle East/Latin American/African | 4,425 | 4,458 | 4,527 | 0.7% | 1.5% |
| Other | 768 | 726 | 690 | -5.5% | -5.0% |
| Total recipients with recorded ethnicity | 141,765 | 139,323 | 140,622 | -1.7% | 0.9% |
| Not specified | 7,467 | 9,579 | 6,375 | 28.3% | -33.4% |
| Total number of Student Loan borrowers | 149,229 | 148,905 | 146,994 | -0.2% | -1.3% |
Note 1: A detailed breakdown of ethnic groups is included in the downloadable Excel file.
How we report ethnicity
From December 2021, we are changing our reporting to an approach called ‘total response’. Making this change means that we recognise all aspects of someone’s ethnicity. This will reflect our clients more accurately, align our approach with Statistics NZ’s reporting and reflect best practice.
Ethnicity is about people’s identity and sense of belonging. Ethnicity measures cultural affiliation, rather than race, ancestry, nationality, or citizenship. Ethnicity is self-perceived and people can identify with more than one ethnic group. Previously, we reported ethnicity using an approach called ‘prioritised ethnicity’. Prioritised ethnicity means that we allocate people to a single ethnic group in an order of priority. The priority used by MSD was Māori, Pacific Peoples, Other and NZ European.
