How to become a courier
Official title: Courier
Also called: Courier driver, Cycle courier, Courier contractor, Delivery agent
Couriers sort, collect and deliver packages and other items to homes and businesses.
Main tasks
- Deliver mail, parcels and packages
- Drive vehicles
- Load parcels into delivery vehicles
- Unload parcels at delivery locations
- Record delivery and shipping information
- Sort parcels before delivery
- Collect signatures for delivered parcels
- Communicate with others about deliveries
How to become one
You usually learn on the job to become a courier. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Required: a driver licence; to pass a drug test; to pass a police check. Other requirements: your own vehicle and equipment; a driver licence with a dangerous goods (D) endorsement; a Goods Service Licence.
Pay · Past change · AI and this job
- Median pay: $64,000 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
- Upper: $120,000 a year
- TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $30.77 an hour.
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Decrease (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
- People employed in the group Couriers and Postal Deliverers: 5,862 at the 2018 Census and 5,946 at the 2023 Census (+1.4%). Past change, not a forecast.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Who does this work
- About 4,100 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
- In the group Couriers and Postal Deliverers, 28% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
- Where people in the group Couriers and Postal Deliverers work (2023 Census): Auckland 29.7%, Canterbury 13.8%, and Wellington 10.4%.
Related jobs
- Postal delivery worker
- Postal service worker
- Transportation, storage and distribution manager
- Supply chain manager
- Postal services manager
- Customs broker
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Questions people ask
How do I become a courier?
You usually learn on the job to become a courier. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Required: a driver licence; to pass a drug test; to pass a police check. Other requirements: your own vehicle and equipment; a driver licence with a dangerous goods (D) endorsement; a Goods Service Licence.
How much does a courier earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $64,000 a year, before tax.
Has the number of people working as a courier grown in New Zealand?
It has shrunk: TEC records a decrease in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Will AI change the work of a courier?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026