New Zealanders are more concerned about data security issues spanning identity theft, credit card fraud and internet viruses or hacking, than natural disasters or terrorism.

That’s according to the 2018 Unisys Security Index.

The index of security concerns of the New Zealand public sits at 138 out of 300 this year, down from 154 in 2017, and returning to previous levels of concern recorded in 2013 and 2014.

This is the largest decrease in concern over the last year of the 13 countries surveyed, with New Zealand recording the third lowest index score.

The drop was largely driven by a decrease in concern around natural disasters, with 41% concerned about a serious event such as an earthquake, flood or epidemic occurring in New Zealand - down from 51% in 2017. Overall concern is higher among women than men, and 18- to 24-year olds are more concerned than 55- to 65-year olds.

More than half of New Zealanders said they were extremely or very concerned about unauthorised access to, or misuse of, personal information. 

Half said they were worried about people using their credit card details. Just under 50% said they were worried about being hacked or getting a virus.

"While New Zealanders experienced a relatively calm year in terms of politics and natural disasters, local and global data breaches dominated media headlines and impacted many of us personally - so data security is top of mind," said Andrew Whelan, vice-president commercial industries, Unisys Asia Pacific.