Passenger Services industry insights
Explore the latest industry insights from Infometrics to learn more about the industries we work with and how they’re evolving.
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Passenger Services industry summary
Employment in 2025
In 2025, the passenger services sector employed 11,852 people, representing 0.4% of all filled jobs in New Zealand.
Employment declined slightly between 2020 and 2025, at an average rate of ‑0.7% per year. Stronger growth is forecast, with employment expected to increase by 2.2% per year between 2026 and 2031, exceeding projected national employment growth of 1.4%.
Businesses in the sector
In 2025, there were 1,085 passenger services businesses operating in New Zealand, accounting for 0.2% of all business units nationally.
Future workforce demand
Between 2026 and 2031, the passenger services sector is expected to generate 3,207 total job openings. These include:
- 1,649 new jobs created through employment growth
- 1,558 replacement job openings, reflecting workforce turnover.
Where people work
- Auckland: 4,514
- Bay of Plenty: 738
- Waikato: 905
- Wellington: 1,284
- Canterbury: 1,490
- Rest of North Island: 1,462
- Rest of South Island: 1,458
Top occupations
The top five occupations in 2025 were:
- Bus Driver: 7,969 jobs
- Charter and Tour Bus Driver: 541 jobs
- Passenger Coach Driver: 336 jobs
- Office Manager: 121 jobs
- Diesel Motor Mechanic: 109 jobs
These represent 9,076 jobs, 76.6% of total Passenger Services in New Zealand.
Self-employment in 2025
In 2025, 659 workers in passenger services were self‑employed, resulting in a 5.6% self‑employment rate.
This is below the national average of 15.2%.
Sector productivity
In 2025, the passenger services sector generated $1,356 million in GDP, contributing 0.3% of New Zealand’s total GDP.
GDP declined between 2020 and 2025, at an average rate of ‑1.3% per year.
Over the longer period 2015–2025, GDP grew modestly at 0.5% per year, well below overall national growth.
Productivity, measured as GDP per full‑time equivalent (FTE), was $134,155, compared with $174,045 nationally.
Ethnicity of workers
In 2025, passenger services workforce was ethnically diverse.
Asian and Pacific Peoples were represented at a slightly higher proportion relative to total New Zealand employment
European workers made up the largest share, however at a lower rate than the national workforce.
Māori workers were represented at a similar level to the national workforce.
Highest post‑school qualifications (2023)
While half of the passenger services workforce hold no formal qualifications, around 15% hold a degree.
Age profile of workers
The passenger services workforce represent long tenure.
- Workers aged 55+ make up the largest share of employment.
- Younger workers aged 15–24 are represented at much lower rates than the national workforce.
Female participation
Women made up 20% of the passenger services workforce in 2025, compared with 48% across New Zealand.
Female participation in the sector has remained relatively stable over time.
Hours worked
Passenger services workers were more likely to work full‑time hours.
Most worked 40–49 hours per week, with a smaller but notable share working 50 hours or more.
More workers were employed in part‑time hour brackets of 10-29 hours than in the national workforce.
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These reports were defined by MITO Limited. Data sourced from Infometrics and Statistics New Zealand.