The New Zealand public thinks threats to our national security are increasing, with natural disasters, misinformation, hacking and epidemics at the top of their list of concerns.

This is according to a recent government-led survey of more than a 1000 people, prompted by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terrorist attack.

At the top of the list, 87 per cent of people surveyed say a natural disaster would present a threat within the next year, and 91 per cent say within the next decade.

This was a lot higher than the global average of 69 per cent.

The report says this is not surprising, as New Zealand is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world for earthquakes, floods, droughts and volcanic activity.

Eighty per cent of those surveyed thought a terrorist attack or violent extremism would become a real threat within the next 10 years.

At the bottom of the list is the risk of armed conflict with another country. Fourty-two per cent of people worried it would happen within the next decade - slightly lower than the global average of 46 per cent.

When it comes to confidence in the government to act against these threats, the best performing areas were natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and health epidemics.

These are all areas in which this government has had to demonstrate its ability to protect the population.

Respondents are not confident in the government's ability to deal with the threat of a nuclear, biological or chemical attack elsewhere in the world, or misinformation, or violent conflict between groups within New Zealand.

Only 20 per cent of respondents say national security agencies currently share enough information - almost double that amount (39 per cent) disagree. A third are on the fence.

More than half (59 per cent) will like to know more about national security threats, they say.

-RNZ.