Digitised data reveals era when women were scarce

The National Council of Women of New Zealand, 1899.

New Zealand records dating back 170 years were put online yesterday for the first time - and show that Kiwi men endured a 56-year women drought.

Digitised versions of statistical resources dating from the 1840s to the start of World War I are now available on Statistics NZ's website.

This is the second batch of historical records to go digital, after New Zealand's official yearbooks from 1890 to the present day were put online last year, with more than 13,000 people searching through them since then.

"It's extending that snapshot of New Zealand to an even earlier period with a few extra volumes," said Statistics NZ information management manager Evelyn Wareham. "What is really cool is that early material from the 1840s gives a rich picture of different aspects."

The online records show that among the European population in 1860 there were approximately 70 females for every 100 males. By the 1916 census the proportion of women in the New Zealand population was almost equal to men.

This balancing was because of a shift from a population of immigrants to one of people mainly born in New Zealand, said Ms Wareham.

Statistics NZ's latest data shows the tables have turned and there are now 100 females for every 97 males.

New Zealanders researching their heritage can now search online through the country's earliest available records to find out how their forebears lived, but core users of the new, digital information will be economists, demographers and academics, Ms Wareham said.

"For them it's a rich source, as instead of looking at books they can cut and paste tables directly into Excel."

The tool will be particularly useful for Maori individuals and community groups, as the 1857-58 Maori Census is available for the first time.