‘Injuries in New Zealand’ report shines light on risk and prevention
We’ve released ‘Injuries in New Zealand, Insights from 2024: How we’re getting hurt and how you can make a difference’. It aims to raise awareness of the risk of injury in our motu and show how you can play a part in helping us reduce injuries.
Every year, New Zealanders get injured at a significant rate.
In 2024, we accepted two million injury claims from 1.6 million New Zealanders, and it cost nearly $7 billion to help people recover from these injuries and to maintain some form of income (weekly compensation).
A total of $4.4 billion of these costs went towards rehabilitation expenses.
The report shows that in the past 20 years since 2004, the costs of supporting New Zealanders with injury have climbed from just under $1 billion to nearly $4.4 billion in 2024.
ACC is focused on actively supporting clients who are injured, to support better outcomes for them and the scheme.
Last year, we provided financial support to 162,571 people who couldn’t work because of injury, paying out over 18 million days of weekly compensation. The total cost of weekly compensation in 2024 was $2.5 billion.
Although these injuries represent only six per cent of all injuries, they account for around 60 per cent of the cost.
“To put it simply, more people are getting injured, and it’s taking longer and costing more for them to recover,” says James Whitaker, ACC Injury Prevention Leader.
Providing insight into injuries to raise awareness
To help raise the collective awareness of the need to prevent injuries, ACC has created ‘Injuries in New Zealand, Insights from 2024: How we’re getting hurt and how you can make a difference.’
It will become an annual resource. James says it provides insights into how we’re getting injured so we can make informed decisions and reduce our injury rate.
“We know ACC is a unique and world-leading scheme but we can’t take it for granted,” he says.
“We support almost two million New Zealanders every year to recover from injury. It’s always better to prevent an injury happening in the first place so we can continue doing what we love.”
Whether it’s at home or in our communities, at work, in sport and recreation or on our roads, James says the number of people getting injured is too high, especially considering most injuries are preventable.
The need to ‘Have a hmmm’
Independent research indicates more New Zealanders are now taking action to prevent injuries to themselves and other people.
Given that injuries lead to at least 18 million days off work each year, our country won't be able to reach its potential until many more New Zealanders become mindful of injury-related risks.
By being present in the moments when there is injury risk, we can get the job done and continue to do the things we love. This is far better than experiencing pain, creating flow-on effects for friends and family, and facing a long rehabilitation.
James says the high number of injury claims and costs put pressure on the sustainability of the ACC scheme.
“We want all New Zealanders to get the help and support they need when they’re injured, now and for many generations to come,” he says.
ACC partners across the various areas of injury prevention to keep New Zealanders safe, whether they’re at home, at play or at work.
“We all need to be more mindful and present when there is an injury risk. We need to think, if I get hurt, then what will be the impact on those people who I care about?”
More information about how to ‘Have a hmmm’ and prevent injury is available on our website.
You can also read the full 'Injuries in New Zealand' report on our website.
Key insights from ‘Injuries in New Zealand’
There are four main areas where New Zealanders are getting injured – home/community, sport/recreation, work and road.
At home
Around 1.4 million of the two million injury claims ACC accepts every year occur in our homes and communities. That’s 66 per cent of all claims and 54 per cent of all costs.
Trips and hazards are the main culprits, leading to falls being the main cause of injury. Around 42 per cent of all home-related injuries are from falls or loss of balance.
The second-biggest danger in the home is moving stuff around – lifting, carrying and straining account for around 16 per cent of all home-related injuries.
At work
Work-related injuries account for about 10 per cent of new claims and 22 per cent of the cost to help people recover. These costs are covered by the 558,000 businesses that pay ACC levies, contributing $1.3 billion to support workplace injuries.
Five industries make up 42 per cent of workplace claims costs: manufacturing, construction, agriculture, forestry and fishing.
A total of 43,290 people were off work after a work injury which resulted in 5.5 million days of weekly compensation. This equates to an average of 69 days off work.
On the road
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle ownership in the world – there were around 4.59 million licensed vehicles in New Zealand in 2024.
Every year, we receive about 35,000 road accident claims, with the average cost of each claim at $14,500 – almost 10 times the average cost of a sports injury, and four times that of a work injury.
In 2024, most road-related accidents featured a car (55 per cent) or a motorcycle (18 per cent), while seven percent involved pedestrians.
At play
Sport and recreations claims make up 23 per cent of all ACC claims and also 23 per cent of the cost.
Five activities make up 45 per cent of all sport and recreation injury claims – fitness training/gym, rugby union, football, cycling and netball.
The largest group of claims by volume is fitness training/gym, passing the number of rugby claims several years ago.