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Fun Facts: North Island population has passed 4 million while South Island population grows faster
New Zealand’s North Island has now passed 4 million residents, reaching 4.04 million as of June 2024. This growth comes from a steady increase of 1.3% per year since 2018. The South Island is growing even faster, at 1.4% per year, and now has 1.24 million people. It took just over 20 years for the North Island to grow from 3 million in 2002 to 4 million in 2023, while the South Island added nearly 300,000 people in that time.
These figures use the latest data from the 2023 Census and Post-enumeration Survey, which help make population estimates more accurate. Since 2018, New Zealand’s total population has grown by 1.3% per year, reaching 5.29 million in June 2024, and is expected to hit 5.31 million by the end of the year.
More than half of New Zealanders (54%) live in the northern four regions of the North Island: Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty. These areas have driven much of the country’s growth, making up 62% of the increase since 2018. Tasman and Canterbury are the only other regions growing faster than the national average.
Among all local areas, Selwyn district is growing the fastest, at 5.1% per year since 2018. Queenstown-Lakes is next at 3.7%, and in Auckland, Papakura leads with 5.0% annual growth. Most of New Zealand’s population growth comes from people moving, either within the country or from overseas, while natural increase (births minus deaths) is now a smaller factor than in the past.
Not all areas are growing. Some, like Dunedin, have barely grown (0.1% per year), and Wellington has even shrunk slightly (-0.1% per year). Dunedin has had more deaths than births recently, and both Dunedin and Wellington have lost people to other parts of New Zealand, though they have gained some new residents from overseas. The Chatham Islands have seen the biggest drop, losing 1.9% per year and now have about 610 people.
In Auckland, some local board areas like Waitematā, Devonport-Takapuna, and Waiheke have seen almost no growth, while Ōrākei and Albert-Eden have had small declines. The main reason for slow growth or decline in these areas is more people moving away to other parts of Auckland or New Zealand.
Overall, New Zealand’s population trends show strong growth in some regions and challenges in others, with migration now the main driver of change. This means people looking to relocate will find the most growth and opportunity in places like Selwyn, Queenstown-Lakes, and Auckland’s outer suburbs, while some central cities and remote areas are seeing slower growth or even declines.
For the full article and map see here.