The table shows the percentage of households in New Zealand that owned different electronic goods in 1998 and 2002. Overall, most types of equipment became more common over the period, especially newer technologies, while only one item showed a decrease.
In both years, the washing machine and the colour TV were the most widely owned goods. Almost all households had a washing machine in both 1998 and 2002 (98%), while the figure for colour TVs rose slightly from 95% to 97%.
There were significant increases in the ownership of computers and cell phones. Households with computers went up from half of all homes in 1998 to 78% in 2002. Cell phones showed an even bigger rise, climbing from 20% to 80% over the same period.
Dishwashers and digital cameras also became much more common. Dishwasher ownership increased from 18% to 55%, and digital cameras, which were owned by only 2% of households in 1998, reached 39% by 2002.
The only item that declined was the video recorder, falling from 75% in 1998 to 60% in 2002.