The Labour party is considered most capable of managing all of the top five concerns for New Zealanders - including the economy, the latest Ipsos Issues Monitor has revealed.

National leads on just one of the top 20 issues: crime/law and order.

The quarterly survey asks 1000 New Zealanders what they think are the three most important issues facing the country, and the political parties they believe are most capable of handling them.

The monitor showed New Zealanders' assessment of government performance remained low, with an average rating of 4.1 out of 10 (compared to 4.2 in May).

Less than a quarter of respondents rated the government's performance positively (that is, between 7-10 out of 10) compared to 27 percent in May.

The top five issues

The cost of living (62 percent) remained the top concern since May's survey, and healthcare/hospitals (38 percent) was still considered second most important, though it's been slowly trending downwards.

National's perceived ability to manage healthcare weakened significantly, reaching its lowest point since February 2024, while Labour's at its highest level in nearly five years.

The economy (34 percent) held at third place, but Labour overtook National as the party best placed to manage it - spiking from 28 percent in May to 34 percent in July, while National dropped from 33 percent to 30 percent.

Labour also took a decent lead in the perception of its ability to tackle housing (22 percent) - ranked the fourth most important issue.

Unemployment (20 percent) returned to the top five concerns, reaching a level last seen in late 2020 and overtaking concerns about petrol prices.

The report said it surveyed people during the announced ceasefire in the US-Iran conflict, which drove a sharp decline in concern about fuel, dropping it from the fourth most important issue to seventh equal.

Other trends

Labour is considered best placed to tackle 15 of the top 20 issues.

The Greens are most trusted with climate change as well as environmental concerns, National with law and order, and Te Pāti Māori with issues facing Māori.

National and Labour are rated the equal best parties to take care of defence / foreign affairs.

The only issue that saw a significant increase in concern was race relations/racism, at 6 percent, placed 13th equal - up from 16th equal in May.

The study was conducted using online research panels between 8 and 14 July 2026, with 1002 New Zealanders aged 18 and older taking part.

 

The total New Zealand results have a credibility interval of +/-3.5 percentage points.