There has been a 34% increase over six years in the size of the public service, in terms of EFTS. But not all agencies have grown by the same proportion.
Here are the 10 with the largest relative increases between 2017 and 2023:
1. Pacific Peoples 269%
2. Environment 189%
3. Transport 101%
4. MBIE 87%
5. Statistics 85%
6. Women 78%
7. Public Service Cmsn 74%
8. Culture & Heritage 68%
9. Defence 65%
10. Education 64%
So 10 departments have had staff increases of greater than 64%. Amazing.
By absolute growth we have:
1. MBIE 2,917
2. Social Development 2,277
3. Education 1,679
4. Oranga Tamariki 1,340
5. MPI 1,300
6. Justice 1,122
7. Corrections 1,073
8. Statistics 779
9. Environment 661
10. Internal Affairs 597
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.