Temperature change in New Zealand
New Zealand: Temperature change was 1.23 °C in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Temperature change in New Zealand, 1961–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in °C.
Analysis
In 2025, temperature change in New Zealand stood at 1.23 °C.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 59.9% on the previous year and up 144.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, temperature change in New Zealand peaked at 1.27 °C in 2022 and was at its lowest, -0.663 °C, in 1992.
New Zealand ranks 154th of 233 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Temperature change in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | °C | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | -0.273 °C | — |
| 1962 | 0.591 °C | -316.5% |
| 1963 | -0.348 °C | -158.9% |
| 1964 | -0.449 °C | +29.0% |
| 1965 | -0.447 °C | -0.4% |
| 1966 | -0.211 °C | -52.8% |
| 1967 | -0.155 °C | -26.5% |
| 1968 | -0.057 °C | -63.2% |
| 1969 | -0.376 °C | +559.6% |
| 1970 | 0.595 °C | -258.2% |
| 1971 | 0.674 °C | +13.3% |
| 1972 | 0.111 °C | -83.5% |
| 1973 | 0.185 °C | +66.7% |
| 1974 | 0.357 °C | +93.0% |
| 1975 | 0.583 °C | +63.3% |
| 1976 | -0.514 °C | -188.2% |
| 1977 | -0.391 °C | -23.9% |
| 1978 | 0.382 °C | -197.7% |
| 1979 | 0.309 °C | -19.1% |
| 1980 | -0.001 °C | -100.3% |
| 1981 | 0.418 °C | -41900.0% |
| 1982 | -0.073 °C | -117.5% |
| 1983 | -0.307 °C | +320.5% |
| 1984 | 0.159 °C | -151.8% |
| 1985 | 0.382 °C | +140.3% |
| 1986 | 0.365 °C | -4.5% |
| 1987 | 0.397 °C | +8.8% |
| 1988 | 0.514 °C | +29.5% |
| 1989 | 0.769 °C | +49.6% |
| 1990 | 0.609 °C | -20.8% |
| 1991 | 0.043 °C | -92.9% |
| 1992 | -0.663 °C | -1641.9% |
| 1993 | -0.385 °C | -41.9% |
| 1994 | -0.074 °C | -80.8% |
| 1995 | 0.122 °C | -264.9% |
| 1996 | 0.246 °C | +101.6% |
| 1997 | -0.116 °C | -147.2% |
| 1998 | 0.99 °C | -953.4% |
| 1999 | 1.03 °C | +3.6% |
| 2000 | 0.282 °C | -72.5% |
| 2001 | 0.584 °C | +107.1% |
| 2002 | 0.43 °C | -26.4% |
| 2003 | 0.243 °C | -43.5% |
| 2004 | 0.037 °C | -84.8% |
| 2005 | 0.442 °C | +1094.6% |
| 2006 | 0.399 °C | -9.7% |
| 2007 | 0.213 °C | -46.6% |
| 2008 | 0.541 °C | +154.0% |
| 2009 | 0.058 °C | -89.3% |
| 2010 | 0.597 °C | +929.3% |
| 2011 | 0.668 °C | +11.9% |
| 2012 | 0.118 °C | -82.3% |
| 2013 | 0.971 °C | +722.9% |
| 2014 | 0.483 °C | -50.3% |
| 2015 | 0.501 °C | +3.7% |
| 2016 | 1.15 °C | +128.9% |
| 2017 | 0.549 °C | -52.1% |
| 2018 | 1.08 °C | +96.4% |
| 2019 | 1.03 °C | -4.8% |
| 2020 | 0.828 °C | -19.3% |
| 2021 | 0.899 °C | +8.6% |
| 2022 | 1.27 °C | +41.2% |
| 2023 | 1.06 °C | -16.1% |
| 2024 | 0.766 °C | -28.1% |
| 2025 | 1.23 °C | +59.9% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 1.23 °C is below the median for high income countries, which is 1.86 °C, 66% of the median. (71 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 1.23 °C is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1.01 °C, 1.2× the median. (26 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Temperature change in New Zealand changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | +41900.0% | -0.001 °C | 0.418 °C |
| 1992 | -1641.9% | 0.043 °C | -0.663 °C |
| 2005 | +1094.6% | 0.037 °C | 0.442 °C |
| 1998 | +953.4% | -0.116 °C | 0.99 °C |
| 2010 | +929.3% | 0.058 °C | 0.597 °C |
| 2013 | +722.9% | 0.118 °C | 0.971 °C |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | -0.1917 °C | -0.449 °C | 0.591 °C | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.2291 °C | -0.514 °C | 0.674 °C | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.2623 °C | -0.307 °C | 0.769 °C | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.1798 °C | -0.663 °C | 1.03 °C | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.3229 °C | 0.037 °C | 0.584 °C | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7138 °C | 0.118 °C | 1.15 °C | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.01 °C | 0.766 °C | 1.27 °C | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
- 151 Djibouti 1.25 °C compare
- 152 Uganda 1.23 °C compare
- 153 Mozambique 1.23 °C compare
- 155 Netherlands Antilles (former) 1.21 °C compare
- 155 Sudan 1.21 °C compare
- 157 Martinique 1.2 °C compare
More environment data for New Zealand
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.2131 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 1.69 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.379 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0.1365 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -0.474 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.9337 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is temperature change in New Zealand?
- Temperature change in New Zealand was 1.23 °C in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest temperature change recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 1.27 °C in 2022.
- What is the lowest temperature change recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.663 °C in 1992.
- How does New Zealand rank for temperature change?
- New Zealand ranks 154th out of 233 countries with data for 2025.
- Is temperature change rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 144.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Temperature change. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Temperature change on land domain disseminates statistics of mean surface temperature change by country, with annual updates. Statistics are available for monthly, seasonal and annual mean temperature anomalies, i.e., temperature change with respect to a baseline climatology, corresponding to the period 1951–1980. The standard deviation of the temperature change of the baseline methodology is also available. Data are based on the publicly available GISTEMP data, the Global Surface Temperature Change data distributed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA-GISS).