Statistics NZ (Stats NZ) recently reported that the national gender pay gap fell to 5.2% in June 2025, down from 8.2% a year earlier. It’s the lowest number on record.
That’s good news. But before we call it a turning point, let’s unpack what this number actually tells us and what it leaves out.
The limits of the national number
The 5.2% figure is the median hourly earnings gap, calculated across all men and women in paid employment. It includes part-time, casual, and public sector workers.
It’s a helpful indicator of general progress. But it doesn’t account for:
Role type or seniority
Whether someone works full-time or part-time
The industry they’re in
The influence of incentive-based pay or salary negotiation
Most importantly, it doesn’t reflect the reality of private sector salaried work, where pay structures are more variable and transparency is often lower.
What LiveRem’s data shows
LiveRem’s dataset is based on real-time payroll and HR data largely from private sector employers. It provides a more detailed, role-specific picture.
As of 31 August 2025:
Median gender pay gap: 19.7%
Average (mean) gender pay gap: 17.2%
It’s a step in the right direction, but it's still a long way from parity.
Median vs average: what’s the difference?
Both are important metrics, but they reveal different dynamics:
Median compares the pay of the middle-paid man and middle-paid woman. It is less affected by very high or low salaries, and is used in most national reporting.
Average (mean) calculates the total pay for men and women divided by their respective headcounts. It is more sensitive to outliers and highlights structural pay imbalance, especially in senior roles.
Because women are overrepresented in lower-paid roles, and men are overrepresented at the top, the median often appears smaller, while the average reveals deeper structural inequality.
Stats NZ reports only the median. LiveRem reports both, giving HR and finance leaders a more actionable view.
Why the private sector gap is wider
LiveRem focuses on salaried roles in industries like tech, finance, and professional services. In these roles:
Pay is negotiated more often than it is standardised
Starting salaries and promotions are less transparent
Discretionary pay decisions can reinforce bias
Leadership remains male-dominated in many sectors
These factors combine to create larger gaps, particularly at mid to senior levels. And because LiveRem benchmarks by role, level, and department, these gaps are easier to identify and address.
Visibility is how we close the gap
You can’t fix what you can’t see. That’s why LiveRem helps you:
Track both median and average gender pay gaps
Segment by team, role, level, and location
Benchmark against live market data
Share dashboards that stay updated automatically via your payroll or HRIS
We are so committed to helping organisations understand their gaps that we have made our gender pay gap dashboard completely free, so you can track and understand your pay gap in real time, at the click of a button. No manual uploads. No outdated spreadsheets. Just visibility, ready when you are.
The gender pay gap is shrinking, but for many businesses, the real number is still well into double digits.
If you're ready to move from awareness to action, LiveRem is built to help, and our gender pay gap reporting dashboard is completely free.
