What the NZ business directory looks like right now

Most “directory stats” you see online are marketing guesses. These numbers are not. They come straight from Business Directory NZ’s live insights page, refreshed from the same database that powers search and category pages.

As of 27 August 2026, the directory has 11,067 published listings across 179 active categories and 17 regions with supply. Of those listings, 909 (8 per cent) are claimed by an owner who can update contact details and keep the profile current.

By category, the five largest sets right now are:

Trades and hospitality still dominate the top of the list, which matches how Kiwis actually search for help: builders, electricians, plumbers, places to eat and places to stay. If you are comparing options, start on the category page, then narrow by region.

Published listings by council region, largest first:

Auckland and Canterbury carry the biggest absolute counts, as you would expect. What matters more for a customer is the category × region page: that is where you see who actually serves your area today, not a national roll-up.

An unclaimed listing can still be useful. It often has a phone number, a town and a website. A claimed listing is different: someone at the business has taken ownership of the profile, so opening hours, photos and service notes are more likely to stay honest.

If you run one of the businesses on the directory, claiming your listing is free. It takes a few minutes and keeps your details from going stale.

Browse the live tables on /insights/, open a high-supply combo such as builders in Auckland or electricians in Canterbury, then shortlist from the cards. Empty or thin combinations are kept out of search indexes elsewhere on the site, so the pages you land on are meant to have real choice.

We will refresh this snapshot as the directory grows. For the latest counts, the insights page is always the source of truth.