While Contact Energy reports record profits, there's another set of numbers climbing just as steeply: the number of New Zealanders getting ACC payments. 1.1 million people received accident compensation income in 2024 — more than one in five Kiwis.

In 2000, that figure was 537,000. We've doubled it in 24 years.

The real acceleration happened recently. Between 2000 and 2019, ACC recipient numbers grew slowly — from 537,000 to 867,000. That's a 61% increase over nearly two decades, roughly tracking population growth and workforce expansion.

Then something changed.

From 2019 to 2024, the numbers jumped from 867,000 to 1.1 million. That's a 28% increase in just five years — faster growth than the previous 19 years combined. COVID hit in 2020, and the trajectory never flattened. By 2022, we'd crossed one million. By 2024, we were well past it.

These are nominal dollars, meaning they're not adjusted for inflation. New Zealand's seen roughly 20-25% inflation since 2019, so some of this growth is simply ACC payments keeping pace with the rising cost of living. But even accounting for that, the real increase is substantial.

What's driving it? The data doesn't break down causes, but the timeline offers clues. The post-COVID period saw massive workforce churn, labour shortages forcing inexperienced workers into roles faster than usual, and industries like construction booming despite safety concerns. More people working in higher-risk conditions. More injuries. More claims.

There's also an aging factor. New Zealand's workforce is older than it was in 2000, and older workers take longer to recover from injuries — meaning they stay on ACC longer. Add in rising awareness of ACC entitlements (you can claim for mental injury now, not just physical), and the system's catching more people who would've once slipped through.

But here's the number that matters most: 882,000 people were on ACC in 2020, the year the government spent billions keeping businesses afloat. Four years later, it's 1.1 million — a quarter-million more New Zealanders too injured to work full capacity.

That's not just a safety issue. It's a productivity issue, a healthcare capacity issue, and a cost-of-living issue rolled into one. Every person on ACC is either out of the workforce entirely or working reduced hours. That's labour we don't have in an economy already stretched thin.

Twenty-four years ago, one in ten working-age Kiwis received ACC payments. Now it's one in five. The numbers aren't slowing down. (Source: Stats NZ (LEED), taxable-income-sources)