Articles

Buried amongst the numerous post-census data releases is a low profile yet critical release – the post enumeration survey (PES). From the PES, Stats NZ revises their historical population estimates.

Stats NZ released their latest subnational population estimates this week, providing us with an annual reading of how population growth has affected each corner of the country. In this article, we explore the high-level themes for population growth in 2025, before diving into specific cities or districts to illustrate the trends we’re seeing.

Concerns about the economy, and household confidence, remain strong at present. Despite falling interest rates, a number of households costs are rising at an accelerating rate, and higher unemployment is worrying all.

Recent announcement about end of the Census have stirred more questions that we thought would pop up about this topic. Although some have raised concerns about the changes, it’s important to recognise that things have already changed.

Despite a decline in the headline price inflation rate, a continued high level of withdrawals from KiwiSaver for financial hardship reasons suggests cost-of-living pressures are still being felt by some households.

Foreign citizen migrant arrival numbers over the past six months have started to trend upwards again, which is a surprising result given the state of New Zealand’s economy and labour market.

The release of 2023 Census data enables us to explore the movements of people within New Zealand – internal migration – to understand not just where people have moved to, but where they have come from, and their age.

The labour force participation rate has been consistently rising over the past 30 years in New Zealand, providing a welcome boost to the labour supply. But can participation keep rising?

Boxing Day spending was big for 2024, but looking at the broader Christmas spending trends implies that shoppers are still conscious about how they’re spending, and it appears that shoppers are looking for bargains before being convinced to part with their cash.

Stats NZ released their latest subnational population estimates, providing us with an annual glimpse into how New Zealand’s population is growing around the country. In this article, we highlight the overall trends of the 2024 estimates and pull out interesting results from specific cities or districts.