KEY POINTS:
Non-profit organisations contributed $3.4 billion to New Zealand's economy in 2004, a new report shows.
The Statistics New Zealand report, titled Non-profit Institutions Satellite Account, shows that in 2004 over a million volunteers gave 270 million hours of unpaid labour.
The estimated contribution of this work is $3.64 billion, or 2.6 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.
If the unpaid work was valued at a market wage the economic contribution rose to 4.9 per cent of GDP - about the same size as the entire construction industry.
The largest economic contribution from non-profit groups was in the social services sector, including services for the disabled, foodbanks and counselling services, which contributed 23 per cent of the total.
Private education and research, such as the preschool sector and private schools, contributed 16 per cent as did community trusts and other fundraising groups.
The economic contribution of the local voluntary sector was the same as Canada, but lower than Australia's which was 3.3 per cent of that country's GDP.
The report found that large non-profit organisations - about 16 per cent of all groups - made 97 per cent of the economic contribution.
The report identified 97,000 non-profit groups, which collectively employed 105,340 paid staff.
Arts, cultural, sporting and recreational groups accounted for 45 per cent of the organisations, followed by social service organisations (12 per cent) and religious groups (10 per cent). The report estimated 31 per cent of teenagers and adults had done some form of voluntary work in 2004, compared with 39 per cent in Britain, 32 per cent in Australia and 27 per cent in Canada and the United States.
Income from subscriptions, donations, grants and government grants in 2004 totalled $2.66 billion.
Of that 43 per cent came from households, 29 per cent from government, 20 per cent from other non-profit groups and 8 per cent from business. Statistics Minister Clayton Cosgrove and Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban welcomed the report.
Mr Cosgrove said once unpaid labour was taken into account the contribution of community groups and volunteers was worth $6.95 billion.
Ms Laban said better information about the sector would lead to more informed debate, policy and decision making.
- NZPA
