Fruit
Workforce Demographics
Workforce dataset (size and demographics) 
Source: Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure
Ethnicity
The workforce of the Fruit industries is ethnically diverse and has the highest proportion of workers who identify as Pacific peoples across all Muka Tangata industries and is much higher than the national average (national benchmark). This will, at least in part, be a result of the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme for horticulture and viticulture industries, which is available to workers from eligible Pacific nations. There is also high percentage of workers who identify as Māori and Asian across the Fruit industries.
The ethnic composition of the workforce varies across the specific fruit workforces. A high percentage of those working in Apple and Pear Growing and Berry Fruit Growing identify as Pacific peoples. Whereas a high proportion of the workforce in Citrus Fruit Growing, Kiwifruit Growing, and Other Fruit and Tree Nut Growing identify as Māori. Berry Fruit Growing has the largest Asian workforce.
Age
The Fruit industries workforce is comparatively young, with nearly half the workforce under the age of 35. This is higher than other industries across Muka Tangata as well as the national average (national benchmark). Across the different Fruit industries, Berry Fruit Growing, and Stone Fruit Growing both have very young workforces, whereas Olive Growing has a much older workforce with around two-thirds being aged 55 or older.
Regional Distribution
The regional distribution of the workforce for the Fruit industries is dependent on the specific fruit. Apple and Pear Growing is heavily concentrated in the Hawke's Bay region, with half its workforce living in this region. Nearly two thirds of the workforce for Citrus Fruit Growing live in Gisborne; half of the workforce for Kiwifruit Growing live in the Bay of Plenty; and over a third of the workforce for Stone Fruit Growing live in Otago.
Gender
Over a third (39%) of those working in the Fruit industries were female in 2021. This falls below the national average (national benchmark) of 47% but is close to the proportion of female workers across Muka Tangata industries (36%).
Berry Fruit Growing has the highest proportion of female workers of all the Fruit industries with females comprising more than half of the workforce, whereas Apple and Pear Growing has the lowest proportion of female workers with less than a third of the workforce identifying as female.