Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2025; related research and surveys

Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2025

Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora | Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has published the Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2025 (YHWS).

Vine has collated key findings from the YHWS 2025 related to sex, safety, and victimisation and harmful behaviour, with a focus on family violence and sexual violence in Aotearoa.

Sex

• 15.7% of young people shared that they are sexually active (they have had consensual sex).
• 53.5% of these young people said they used safe sex practices to protect against STIs the last time they had sex.
• 78% of sexually active young people said that sex is a positive or enjoyable experience.
• 17.7% of all young people reported looking at porn weekly, with 5.0% of young people feeling pressured to do things they or someone else saw in porn.

Safety

• 88.9% of all young people said they felt safe at home.
• 67.7% felt safe at school.
• 67.5% felt safe online.
• 67.% felt safe in their neighbourhood.
• 7.3% said they had been in trouble with the police in the last 12 months.
• 2.3% reported being treated unfairly or picked on/hassled by the police because of their ethnicity in the last 12 months.
• 26.3% of young people said they were bullied in the past 12 months.
• Of those who said they had been bullied in the past 12 months, 21.9% said they had been physically harmed, and common reasons for being bullied included their ethnicity (28.7%), being (or being thought to be) lesbian, gay, gender diverse (21.3%), their disability or health condition (18.0%), their religion (13.5%), or their gender (10.1%).

Victimisation and harmful behaviour

• 7.4% of young people reported having a harmful experience of sexting.
• 12.5% of young people reported being touched in a sexual way or made to do sexual things they did not want to (including sexual abuse or rape).
• In the past 12 months, 49.9% of young people reported they had been yelled or sworn at by an adult in the place they live, while 7.1% were hit or physically hurt by an adult in the place they usually live.
• In the past 12 months, 5.9% reported being hit or physically harmed on purpose by an intimate partner; 41.1% by a sibling; 22.7% by another young person; 11.4% by a parent or caregiver; 3.9% by another adult.
• In the past 12 months, 16.0% of young people were treated unfairly or differently because of their ethnicity; 11.0% because of their gender; 29.2% for another reason.

Background

The Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey (YHWS) is Aotearoa’s largest nationally representative survey engaging directly with young people aimed at understanding youth health and wellbeing. It has existed in different forms for more than 25 years. In 1999, the Adolescent Health Research Group developed the Youth2000 survey series which established a foundational evidence base on youth wellbeing. In 2021, MSD built on this series by undertaking the What About Me? survey and have continued to administer the series approximately every three years since.

The YHWS 2025 is the sixth version of the survey, merging and continuing the work of the Youth2000 and What About Me? surveys. It engaged with 9,400 young people aged 13-19 who completed it on tablets at their education provider between March and September 2025. This version of the survey includes additional questions on social media, screen time, aspirations for the future, and youth psychological distress.

In the YHWS 2025, respondents were asked about:

• Demographic data
• Health (including chronic pain, menstrual health, sexual health, substance use and social media use)
• Mental health and wellbeing (including barriers to care and self-harm)
• Life factors concerning family, home, community, learning, aspirations, working, and contributing
• Harms and safety (including bullying, gambling, victimisation and harmful behaviour)

For a general overview of key statistics from the survey, see the YHWS landing page.

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Related research and surveys

Youthline ASB State of the Generation Report, Youthline & ASB (2026)

This is a nationally representative survey of 1,041 rangatahi aged 12 to 24 years old across gender, region, and ethnicity, with robust sample sizes of underserved populations including rainbow, disabled, and neurodiverse communities. It found that young people identified mental health, cost-of-living, social pressure, phone addictions, social media and AI among the biggest challenges facing their generation.

Mental health and addiction service monitoring 2026 - data summary, Te Hiringa Mahara | Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission (2026)

This new data summary provides updated data on access and trends for mental health and addiction services in Aotearoa. In most cases, the summary reports on data over the five-year period to June 2025. This snapshot shows that more young people aged 15-25 were experiencing very high levels of psychological distress than 10 years ago. Young people aged 19-24 were the only age group whose access to specialist care had decreased over the five years prior, while young people aged 0-18 faced the longest wait times for service and had the highest rate of declined referrals.

Sexual violence and unwanted sexual experiences among adolescents: prevalence, trends and disparities among a representative cross-sectional study of high school students in Aotearoa New Zealand, Roskvist, R. et. al., University of Auckland (2025)

Using data drawn from the Youth2000 series (2001, 2007, 2012, and 2019), this study examines the prevalence of unwanted sexual experiences among young people in Aotearoa, broken down by demographic groups alongside trends over time. It found widespread experiences of sexual violence among young people, with girls, Māori, transgender youth, and others experiencing higher prevalence. It calls for an intersectional approach to prevention, noting that inclusive, culturally and developmentally appropriate strategies are necessary to address inequity.

Counting Ourselves: Findings from the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand trans & non-binary health survey, Transgender Health Research Lab & University of Waikato (2025)

Counting Ourselves is a comprehensive national health and wellbeing survey designed by and for trans and non-binary people, led by a team of academic staff and students who are trans, non-binary, and cisgender. This is the second iteration of the survey and follows on from the first report published in 2018. It found significant healthcare inequities and high levels of violence and discrimination against trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa. For more, see Vine’s news story.

Rangatahi Māori and the whānau chocolate box: Rangatahi wellbeing in whānau contexts, Te Maringi Mai o Hawaiiki et. al., Explore 20(6) (2024)

Whānau Māori are comprised of unique and vital relationships that support and scaffold rangatahi wellbeing, yet are often reduced to nuclear family structures within individualised notions of wellbeing. This research explores how whānau structures support rangatahi wellbeing through photo-projects and interviews with 51 rangatahi. It identifies and draws upon a wide array of whānau relationships, qualities and characteristics that may be likened to a ‘whānau chocolate box’ from which rangatahi can derive influence, systems of support and ideas for future identities and inspiration.

What About Me? The Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2021, Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora | Ministry of Social Development (2022)

This is the previous iteration of the Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey, published by MSD in 2022. It surveyed nearly 8,000 young people years 9 to 13 in their schools and communities during 2021. It examined their experiences of identity, relationships, their homes, achievements and contributions, physical and mental health, and safety and experiences of harm.