Uber 2018 End of Year Statistics

Uber in New Zealand by the numbers: 2018 in Review

More than 83 million kilometres, the equivalent of travelling to the moon and back 108 times, is the distance riders in New Zealand travelled in trips booked using the Uber app during 2018.

Uber NZ looks back on the last 12 months to see all the cool ways that New Zealanders used Uber and Uber Eats.

Playing into our ‘rugby mad’ stereotype, Saturday 25 August was the busiest night for Uber rides, coinciding with people watching the All Blacks v Wallabies Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park.

Kiwis also did their fair share of international travel, using Uber in 78 countries in 2018. That’s every country Uber operates in except for Paraguay – perhaps an unexplored destination to add to the bucket list in 2019.

Getting a delicious meal delivered at the touch of a button is obviously appealing to lots of Kiwis – including one in particular who made 438 Uber Eats orders in 2018, that’s more than one per day.

The most expensive order cost $870 and comprised 151 items from Wendy’s on Dominion Road in Auckland, while the smallest order was for a single sachet of ketchup!

Andy Bowie, NZ Country Manager, Uber Eats says: “It’s sometimes remarkable to see how Kiwis move around our cities and eat – hat’s off to the person who tried 109 different restaurants over the year, that is one diverse palate.

“With six cities on Uber Eats and seven cities offering ridesharing via the Uber app, our technology offers some cool insights such as the popularity of butter chicken as the nation’s most ordered dish.

“We love that driver-partners and delivery-partners in New Zealand are using our apps as a side hustle to get some extra income while having the flexibility to pursue their other focuses in life. Congrats to the driver-partner who received more than 3,500 five-star rated rides, and it’s impressive that another completed 51 trips in one evening.

“Thanks to all the driver and delivery-partners who are helping Kiwis get where they want to go, and to eat what they want to eat.”

Uber NZ dug deep to discover some of the most interesting facts from 2018. Here are a few of their favourites:

Uber Rides

• Kiwi riders travelled a combined 83,158,994 kilometres — that’s the equivalent of travelling to the moon and back 108 times
• The busiest night of the year was Saturday 25 August, coinciding with the All Blacks v Wallabies Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park
• The busiest driver-partner completed 51 trips in one evening
• One Kiwi driver-partner received 3,621 five-star rated trips in 2018 – that’s a lot of magic trips!
• Kiwis love to travel the globe, it’s in our nature. New Zealanders used Uber in almost all 78 countries that we operate in globally – we just missed one: Paraguay
• The most travelled Kiwi rider used Uber in 15 different countries in 2018
• Uber ridesharing launched in four new cities – Hamilton, Tauranga, Queenstown & Dunedin – in addition to Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch.

Uber Eats

• The most popular menu item was butter chicken
• The most searched-for item was burgers
• Someone in Auckland ordered Uber Eats 438 times this year — that’s more than once a day!
• Most adventurous award goes to the person who ordered from 109 different restaurants this year
• “No onion” was the most common special instruction – followed by “no tomato” and “extra sauce”
• A delivery partner in Auckland clocked the most kilometers this year at 24,014 kms: he could have driven the length of New Zealand 12 times (from Cape Reinga to the Bluff and back, six times)
• A Big Mac® Combo was the number one item ordered after midnight across the country
• As a nation we ordered 505,595 burritos in 2018 and 653,430 Chicken McNuggets.
• Uber Eats came to three additional cities – Hamilton, Tauranga and Dunedin – adding Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch which all saw Uber Eats launch in 2017.

With the festive season and summer holidays just around the corner, it’s interesting to look back and reflect on the year that was.