Three in Four New Zealanders Live in North Island

Three in four New Zealanders live in the North Island

26 October 2017 - The North Island was home to an estimated 3.67 million people at 30 June 2017, Stats NZ said today. This number accounted for 77 percent of New Zealand's total population.

Overall, the North Island’s population grew at a rate of 2.2 percent, faster than the national average of 2.1 percent. Generally, the fastest-growing areas were concentrated in large cities and their neighbouring districts.

Kaipara (3.7 percent) and Waikato (3.4 percent) districts had the highest growth rates in the North Island during the June 2017 year, followed by Waipa district (2.7 percent) and Auckland (2.6 percent). Strong growth in the northernmost territorial authority areas has seen an increase in population density of the upper North Island, with about half the country's population living north of Lake Rotorua.

New Zealand’s median centre of population is defined as the point of intersection of two lines: one equally dividing the population north and south, the other equally dividing the population east and west. In 2017, the median centre of population was about 1 kilometre offshore, west of Kawhia. This point has moved 280 kilometres north since 1921 at a rate of 1.7 kilometres a year for the last decade.

New Zealand's population density at 30 June was 18 people per square kilometre, compared with 13 in 1991. However, there is considerable variation at the local level, ranging up to 18,000 people per square kilometre in Central Auckland.

See also - Subnational Population Estimates: At 30 June 2017 (provisional)

ENDS

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