New Zealand Population
2 The New Zealand population is small but growing. With a population of just over 4 million and a land area of 268 680 km2 we have plenty of open spaces to explore. To give you a comparison, you can have a look at the table below Country Land Area (km2) Population New Zealand 268 680 4 315 800 South Africa 1 211 037 49 320 000 United Kingdom 244 820 61 113 205

Population Distribution

As with most countries nowadays, there is a strong trend towards the urbanisation of the population, with more and more people gradually moving into the cities. At the heart of this urbanisation is Auckland, with over 30% of the population living there.  As a result Auckland has recently been declared a Super City. The second largest city is Wellington with around 400 oo0 inhabitants, with Christchurch hot in it’s heals with around 375 000. From there the spread, and scenery becomes quite rural rather quickly. Most towns in New Zealand have a population of 50 000 or less.

Have said that though, you can ride along the most rural roads in New Zealand and find houses dotted all along the road unlike in South Africa where you ride for kilometers without seeing any signs of life.

Some Interesting Population Stats

It is often thought that New Zealand’s population is in decline because the fertility rate has dramatically declined in recent decades because of the urbanisation trend. Reality though is that the natural New Zealand population growth is roughly 30 000 per year as the effects of the declining fertility rate has not affected the stats yet. This will however gradually decline to meet the falling fertility rate as time goes on.

As with South Africa, New Zealand is also said to be experiencing a brain drain because the Kiwis like to head over to Europe for what they call an OE (Overseas Experience). Many then never return. The same goes for many Kiwis leaving to go work in Oz because the salaries are generally higher there. Statistics New Zealand have however found that the opposite is true. New Zealand is actually experiencing a brain gain due to three factors :
a) the Kiwis that are leaving permanently are of all education levels and not just the highly educated
b) most Kiwis that leave for their OE actually do return after a few years
c) the migrants that are arriving are highly educated so are adding to the knowledge pool.

A New Zealander is born roughly every 8 minutes and one passes away every 19 minutes. A new migrant arrives every 126 minutes.