New Zealand Population: South Island (SI) data was reported at 1,242,300.000 Person in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,226,100.000 Person for 2023. New Zealand Population: South Island (SI) data is updated yearly, averaging 1,033,700.000 Person from Jun 1996 (Median) to 2024, with 29 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,242,300.000 Person in 2024 and a record low of 921,100.000 Person in 1996. New Zealand Population: South Island (SI) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Stats NZ. The data is categorized under Global Database’s New Zealand – Table NZ.G005: Population: by Region.

New Zealand Population: North Island (NI) data was reported at 4,044,600.000 Person in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 3,973,400.000 Person for 2023. New Zealand Population: North Island (NI) data is updated yearly, averaging 3,311,700.000 Person from Jun 1996 (Median) to 2024, with 29 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,044,600.000 Person in 2024 and a record low of 2,810,100.000 Person in 1996. New Zealand Population: North Island (NI) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Stats NZ. The data is categorized under Global Database’s New Zealand – Table NZ.G005: Population: by Region.

The Major Name data table is part of NZ Suburbs and Localities Dataset. Major names describe the wider area in which the boundary is located.

NZ Suburbs and Localities is an easy to use layer generated from the normalised NZ Suburbs and Localities Dataset. It describes the spatial extent and name of communities in urban areas (suburbs) and rural areas (localities) for navigation and location purposes.

The suburb and locality boundaries cover New Zealand including North Island, South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Chatham Islands, and nearby offshore islands.

Each suburb and locality is assigned a name, major name, Territorial Authority and, if appropriate, additional in use names. A population estimate is provided for each suburb and locality by Stats NZ.

For more information please refer to the NZ Suburbs and Localities Guidance documents:

Data Dictionary "https://www.linz.govt.nz/products-services/data/types-linz-data/suburbs-and-localities-data">Change Request Process "https://www.linz.govt.nz/products-services/data/types-linz-data/suburbs-and-localities-data">Change Request Principles, Requirements and Rules Changes to NZ Suburbs and Localities can be requested by emailing addresses@linz.govt.nz

Statistical Area 2 2023 update

SA2 2023 is the first major update of the geography since it was first created in 2018. The update is to ensure SA2s are relevant and meet criteria before each five-yearly population and dwelling census. SA2 2023 contains 135 new SA2s. Updates were made to reflect real world change of population and dwelling growth mainly in urban areas, and to make some improvements to their delineation of communities of interest.

​

Description

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released statistical area 2 (SA2) boundaries as at 1 January 2023 as defined by Stats NZ. This version contains 2,395 SA2s (2,379 digitised and 16 with empty or null geometries (non-digitised)).

​

SA2 is an output geography that provides higher aggregations of population data than can be provided at the statistical area 1 (SA1) level. The SA2 geography aims to reflect communities that interact together socially and economically. In populated areas, SA2s generally contain similar sized populations.

​

The SA2 should:

form a contiguous cluster of one or more SA1s,

excluding exceptions below, allow the release of multivariate statistics with minimal data suppression,

capture a similar type of area, such as a high-density urban area, farmland, wilderness area, and water area,

be socially homogeneous and capture a community of interest. It may have, for example:

​

• a shared road network,
• shared community facilities,
• shared historical or social links, or
• socio-economic similarity,

​

form a nested hierarchy with statistical output geographies and administrative boundaries. It must:

​

• be built from SA1s,
• either define or aggregate to define SA3s, urban areas, territorial authorities, and regional councils.

​

SA2s in city council areas generally have a population of 2,000–4,000 residents while SA2s in district council areas generally have a population of 1,000–3,000 residents.

​

In major urban areas, an SA2 or a group of SA2s often approximates a single suburb. In rural areas, rural settlements are included in their respective SA2 with the surrounding rural area.

​

SA2s in urban areas where there is significant business and industrial activity, for example ports, airports, industrial, commercial, and retail areas, often have fewer than 1,000 residents. These SA2s are useful for analysing business demographics, labour markets, and commuting patterns.

​

In rural areas, some SA2s have fewer than 1,000 residents because they are in conservation areas or contain sparse populations that cover a large area.

​

To minimise suppression of population data, small islands with zero or low populations close to the mainland, and marinas are generally included in their adjacent land-based SA2.

​

Zero or nominal population SA2s

To ensure that the SA2 geography covers all of New Zealand and aligns with New Zealand’s topography and local government boundaries, some SA2s have zero or nominal populations. These include:

​

• SA2s where territorial authority boundaries straddle regional council boundaries. These SA2s each have fewer than 200 residents and are: Arahiwi, Tiroa, Rangataiki, Kaimanawa, Taharua, Te More, Ngamatea, Whangamomona, and Mara.
• SA2s created for single islands or groups of islands that are some distance from the mainland or to separate large unpopulated islands from urban areas
• SA2s that represent inland water, inlets or oceanic areas including: inland lakes larger than 50 square kilometres, harbours larger than 40 square kilometres, major ports, other non-contiguous inlets and harbours defined by territorial authority, and contiguous oceanic areas defined by regional council.
• SA2s for non-digitised oceanic areas, offshore oil rigs, islands, and the Ross Dependency. Each SA2 is represented by a single meshblock. The following 16 SA2s are held in non-digitised form (SA2 code; SA2 name):

400001; New Zealand Economic Zone, 400002; Oceanic Kermadec Islands, 400003; Kermadec Islands, 400004; Oceanic Oil Rig Taranaki, 400005; Oceanic Campbell Island, 400006; Campbell Island, 400007; Oceanic Oil Rig Southland, 400008; Oceanic Auckland Islands, 400009; Auckland Islands, 400010 ; Oceanic Bounty Islands, 400011; Bounty Islands, 400012; Oceanic Snares Islands, 400013; Snares Islands, 400014; Oceanic Antipodes Islands, 400015; Antipodes Islands, 400016; Ross Dependency.

​

SA2 numbering and naming

Each SA2 is a single geographic entity with a name and a numeric code. The name refers to a geographic feature or a recognised place name or suburb. In some instances where place names are the same or very similar, the SA2s are differentiated by their territorial authority name, for example, Gladstone (Carterton District) and Gladstone (Invercargill City).

​

SA2 codes have six digits. North Island SA2 codes start with a 1 or 2, South Island SA2 codes start with a 3 and non-digitised SA2 codes start with a 4. They are numbered approximately north to south within their respective territorial authorities. To ensure the north–south code pattern is maintained, the SA2 codes were given 00 for the last two digits when the geography was created in 2018. When SA2 names or boundaries change only the last two digits of the code will change.

​

For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

​

Generalised version

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

​

Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

​

Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

​

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

Refer to the 'Current Geographic Boundaries Table' layer for a list of all current geographies and recent updates.

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released statistical area 3 (SA3) boundaries as at 1 January 2025 as defined by Stats NZ. This version contains 929 SA3s, including 4 non-digitised SA3s.

The SA3 geography aims to meet three purposes:

1. approximate suburbs in major, large, and medium urban areas,
2. in predominantly rural areas, provide geographical areas that are larger in area and population size than SA2s but smaller than territorial authorities,
3. minimise data suppression.

SA3s in major, large, and medium urban areas were created by combining SA2s to approximate suburbs as delineated in the Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) Localities dataset. Some of the resulting SA3s have very large populations.

Outside of major, large, and medium urban areas, SA3s generally have populations of 5,000–10,000. These SA3s may represent either a single small urban area, a combination of small urban areas and their surrounding rural SA2s, or a combination of rural SA2s.

Zero or nominal population SA3s

To minimise the amount of unsuppressed data that can be provided in multivariate statistical tables, SA2s with fewer than 1,000 residents are combined with other SA2s wherever possible to reach the 1,000 SA3 population target. However, there are still a number of SA3s with zero or nominal populations.

Small population SA2s designed to maintain alignment between territorial authority and regional council geographies are merged with other SA2s to reach the 5,000–10,000 SA3 population target. These merges mean that some SA3s do not align with regional council boundaries but are aligned to territorial authority.

Small population island SA2s are included in their adjacent land-based SA3.

Island SA2s outside territorial authority or region are the same in the SA3 geography.

Inland water SA2s are aggregated and named by territorial authority, as in the urban rural classification.

Inlet SA2s are aggregated and named by territorial authority or regional council where the water area is outside the territorial authority.

Oceanic SA2s translate directly to SA3s as they are already aggregated to regional council.

The 16 non-digitised SA2s are aggregated to the following 4 non-digitised SA3s (SA3 code; SA3 name):

70001; Oceanic outside region, 70002; Oceanic oil rigs, 70003; Islands outside region, 70004; Ross Dependency outside region.

SA3 numbering and naming

Each SA3 is a single geographic entity with a name and a numeric code. The name refers to a suburb, recognised place name, or portion of a territorial authority. In some instances where place names are the same or very similar, the SA3s are differentiated by their territorial authority, for example, Hillcrest (Hamilton City) and Hillcrest (Rotorua District).

SA3 codes have five digits. North Island SA3 codes start with a 5, South Island SA3 codes start with a 6 and non-digitised SA3 codes start with a 7. They are numbered approximately north to south within their respective territorial authorities. When first created in 2025, the last digit of each code was 0. When SA3 boundaries change in future, only the last digit of the code will change to ensure the north-south pattern is maintained.

​

High-definition version

This high definition (HD) version is the most detailed geometry, suitable for use in GIS for geometric analysis operations and for the computation of areas, centroids and other metrics. The HD version is aligned to the LINZ cadastre.

​

Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

​

Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007

​

Further information

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

Contact: geography@stats.govt.nz

Refer to the 'Current Geographic Boundaries Table' layer for a list of all current geographies and recent updates.

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released statistical area 2 (SA2) boundaries as at 1 January 2025 as defined by Stats NZ. This version contains 2,395 SA2s (2,379 digitised and 16 with empty or null geometries (non-digitised)).

SA2 is an output geography that provides higher aggregations of population data than can be provided at the statistical area 1 (SA1) level. The SA2 geography aims to reflect communities that interact together socially and economically. In populated areas, SA2s generally contain similar sized populations.

The SA2 should:

form a contiguous cluster of one or more SA1s,

excluding exceptions below, allow the release of multivariate statistics with minimal data suppression,

capture a similar type of area, such as a high-density urban area, farmland, wilderness area, and water area,

be socially homogeneous and capture a community of interest. It may have, for example:

• a shared road network,
• shared community facilities,
• shared historical or social links, or
• socio-economic similarity,

​

form a nested hierarchy with statistical output geographies and administrative boundaries. It must:

• be built from SA1s,
• either define or aggregate to define SA3s, urban areas, territorial authorities, and regional councils.

SA2s in city council areas generally have a population of 2,000–4,000 residents while SA2s in district council areas generally have a population of 1,000–3,000 residents.

In major urban areas, an SA2 or a group of SA2s often approximates a single suburb. In rural areas, rural settlements are included in their respective SA2 with the surrounding rural area.

SA2s in urban areas where there is significant business and industrial activity, for example ports, airports, industrial, commercial, and retail areas, often have fewer than 1,000 residents. These SA2s are useful for analysing business demographics, labour markets, and commuting patterns.

In rural areas, some SA2s have fewer than 1,000 residents because they are in conservation areas or contain sparse populations that cover a large area.

To minimise suppression of population data, small islands with zero or low populations close to the mainland, and marinas are generally included in their adjacent land-based SA2.

Zero or nominal population SA2s

To ensure that the SA2 geography covers all of New Zealand and aligns with New Zealand’s topography and local government boundaries, some SA2s have zero or nominal populations. These include:

• SA2s where territorial authority boundaries straddle regional council boundaries. These SA2s each have fewer than 200 residents and are: Arahiwi, Tiroa, Rangataiki, Kaimanawa, Taharua, Te More, Ngamatea, Whangamomona, and Mara.
• SA2s created for single islands or groups of islands that are some distance from the mainland or to separate large unpopulated islands from urban areas
• SA2s that represent inland water, inlets or oceanic areas including: inland lakes larger than 50 square kilometres, harbours larger than 40 square kilometres, major ports, other non-contiguous inlets and harbours defined by territorial authority, and contiguous oceanic areas defined by regional council.
• SA2s for non-digitised oceanic areas, offshore oil rigs, islands, and the Ross Dependency. Each SA2 is represented by a single meshblock. The following 16 SA2s are held in non-digitised form (SA2 code; SA2 name):

400001; New Zealand Economic Zone, 400002; Oceanic Kermadec Islands, 400003; Kermadec Islands, 400004; Oceanic Oil Rig Taranaki, 400005; Oceanic Campbell Island, 400006; Campbell Island, 400007; Oceanic Oil Rig Southland, 400008; Oceanic Auckland Islands, 400009; Auckland Islands, 400010 ; Oceanic Bounty Islands, 400011; Bounty Islands, 400012; Oceanic Snares Islands, 400013; Snares Islands, 400014; Oceanic Antipodes Islands, 400015; Antipodes Islands, 400016; Ross Dependency.

SA2 numbering and naming

Each SA2 is a single geographic entity with a name and a numeric code. The name refers to a geographic feature or a recognised place name or suburb. In some instances where place names are the same or very similar, the SA2s are differentiated by their territorial authority name, for example, Gladstone (Carterton District) and Gladstone (Invercargill City).

SA2 codes have six digits. North Island SA2 codes start with a 1 or 2, South Island SA2 codes start with a 3 and non-digitised SA2 codes start with a 4. They are numbered approximately north to south within their respective territorial authorities. To ensure the north–south code pattern is maintained, the SA2 codes were given 00 for the last two digits when the geography was created in 2018. When SA2 names or boundaries change only the last two digits of the code will change.

​

High-definition version

This high definition (HD) version is the most detailed geometry, suitable for use in GIS for geometric analysis operations and for the computation of areas, centroids and other metrics. The HD version is aligned to the LINZ cadastre.

​

Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

​

Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

​

Further information

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

Contact: geography@stats.govt.nz

人口：South Island (SI)在06-01-2024达1,242,300.000人，相较于06-01-2023的1,226,100.000人有所增长。人口：South Island (SI)数据按年更新，06-01-1996至06-01-2024期间平均值为1,033,700.000人，共29份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于06-01-2024，达1,242,300.000人，而历史最低值则出现于06-01-1996，为921,100.000人。CEIC提供的人口：South Island (SI)数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于Stats NZ，数据归类于全球数据库的新西兰 – Table NZ.G005: Population: by Region。

Urban rural 2023 update

UR 2023 is the first major update of the geography since it was first created in 2018. The update is to ensure UR geographies are relevant and meet criteria before each five-yearly population and dwelling census. UR 2023 contains 13 new rural settlements and 7 new small urban areas. Updates were made to reflect real world change including new subdivisions and motorways, and to improve delineation of urban areas and rural settlements. The Wānaka urban area, whose population has grown to be more than 10,000 based on population estimates, has been reclassified to a medium urban area in the 2023 urban rural indicator.

​

In the 2023 classification there are:

• 7 major urban areas
• 13 large urban areas
• 23 medium urban areas
• 152 small urban areas
• 402 rural settlements.

​

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released urban rural (UR) boundaries as at 1 January 2023 as defined by Stats NZ. This version contains 745 UR areas, including 195 urban areas and 402 rural settlements.

​

Urban rural (UR) is an output geography that classifies New Zealand into areas that share common urban or rural characteristics and is used to disseminate a broad range of Stats NZ’s social, demographic and economic statistics.

The UR separately identifies urban areas, rural settlements, other rural areas, and water areas. Urban areas and rural settlements are form-based geographies delineated by the inspection of aerial imagery, local government land designations on district plan maps, address registers, property title data, and any other available information. However, because the underlying meshblock pattern is used to define the geographies, boundaries may not align exactly with local government land designations or what can be seen in aerial images. Other rural areas, and bodies of water represent areas not included within an urban area.

Urban areas are built from the statistical area 2 (SA2) geography, while rural and water areas are built from the statistical area 1 (SA1) geography.

​

Non-digitised

The following 4 non-digitised UR areas have been aggregated from the 16 non-digitised meshblocks/SA2s.

6901; Oceanic outside region, 6902; Oceanic oil rigs, 6903; Islands outside region, 6904; Ross Dependency outside region.

​

UR numbering and naming

Each urban area and rural settlement is a single geographic entity with a name and a numeric code.

Other rural areas, inland water areas, and inlets are defined by territorial authority; oceanic areas are defined by regional council; and each have a name and a numeric code.

Urban rural codes have four digits. North Island locations start with a 1, South Island codes start with a 2, oceanic codes start with a 6 and non-digitised codes start with 69.

​

Urban rural indicator (IUR)

The accompanying urban rural indicator (IUR) classifies the urban, rural, and water areas by type. Urban areas are further classified by the size of their estimated resident population:

• major urban area – 100,000 or more residents,
• large urban area – 30,000–99,999 residents,
• medium urban area – 10,000–29,999 residents,
• small urban area – 1,000–9,999 residents.

​

This was based on 2018 Census data and 2021 population estimates. Their IUR status (urban area size/rural settlement) may change if the 2023 Census population count moves them up or down a category.

​

The indicators, by name, with their codes in brackets, are:

urban area – major urban (11), large urban (12), medium urban (13), small urban (14),

rural area – rural settlement (21), rural other (22),

water – inland water (31), inlet (32), oceanic (33).

​

The urban rural indicator complements the urban rural geography and is an attribute in this dataset. Further information on the urban rural indicator is available on the Stats NZ classification and coding tool ARIA.

​

For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

​

Generalised version

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

​

Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

​

Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

Naturally subdivided populations such as those occupying high-altitude habitat patches of the ‘alpine archipelago’ can provide significant insight into past biogeographical change and serve as useful models for predicting future responses to anthropogenic climate change. Among New Zealand's alpine taxa, phylogenetic studies support two major radiations: the first correlating with geological forces (Pliocene uplift) and the second with climatic processes (Pleistocene glaciations). The rock wren (Xenicus gilviventris) is a threatened alpine passerine belonging to the endemic New Zealand wren family (Acanthisittidae). Rock wren constitute a widespread, naturally fragmented population, occurring in patches of suitable habitat over c. 900 m in altitude throughout the length of the South Island, New Zealand. We investigated the relative role of historical geological versus climatic processes in shaping the genetic structure of rock wren (N = 134) throughout their range. Using microsatellites combined with nuclear and mtDNA sequence data, we identify a deep north–south divergence in rock wren (3.7 ± 0.5% at cytochrome b) consistent with the glacial refugia hypothesis whereby populations were restricted in isolated refugia during the Pleistocene c. 2 Ma. This is the first study of an alpine vertebrate to test and provide strong evidence for the glacial refugia hypothesis as an explanation for the low endemicity central zone known as the biotic ‘gap’ in the South Island of New Zealand.

As of June 2024, there were approximately ***** million sheep in New Zealand, a slight decrease from the previous year in which there were around ***** million sheep in the country. The number of sheep in the country has declined over the past decade.  Sheep farming New Zealand was once known for its disproportionate number of sheep per population. However, since the 1970s, the country’s sheep population has fallen drastically. A major factor that has contributed to this decline is sheep farming land lost to other purposes such as urban sprawl, dairy farming, and horticulture farming. The number of lamb livestock has similarly seen a decline. Consumption and exports Sheep in New Zealand are bred for wool and meat, including mutton and lamb. New Zealand is a significant player in the global wool market. The country exports strong wool to leading textile manufacturers around the world. However, along with sheep numbers, wool production has decreased significantly across New Zealand. In terms of domestic meat consumption, the per capita consumption of sheep meat in New Zealand was forecast to decline into the next decade. When looking at trade, the leading country for sheep meat exports from New Zealand was China, with the United Kingdom and the United States trailing behind.

1. The art of population modelling is to incorporate factors essential for capturing a population’s dynamics while otherwise keeping the model as simple as possible. However, it is unclear how optimal model complexity should be assessed, and whether this optimal complexity has been affected by recent advances in modelling methodology. This issue is particularly relevant to small populations because they are subject to complex dynamics but inferences about those dynamics are often constrained by small sample sizes.

2. We fitted Bayesian hierarchical models to long-term data on vital rates (survival and reproduction) for the toutouwai (Petroica longipes) population reintroduced to Tiritiri Matangi, a 220-ha New Zealand island, and quantified the performance of those models in terms of their likelihood of replicating the observed population dynamics. These dynamics consisted of overall growth from 33 (± 0.3) to 160 (± 6) birds from 1992–2018, including recoveries following five harvest ...

Explore the World Bank Population dataset to access rankings and insights on global population statistics. Click here for extensive data on various countries.

Rankings

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Tarakihi (Nemadactylus macropterus) is a demersal fish that supports valuable commercial, recreational, and customary fisheries in New Zealand. However, little is known about its stock structure. The population genetic structure, genetic diversity, and demographic history of N. macropterus were investigated using the hypervariable region one of the mitochondrial control region. 370 samples from 14 locations around New Zealand were collected. While weak genetic breaks were detected between Hawke’s Bay and East Northland and between the west and east coasts of South Island, no clear genetic structure was detected for the overall New Zealand area (ФST = 0.002, P = 0.18), indicative of a panmictic genetic structure. N. macropterus display a high level of genetic diversity and appear to have a historically large and stable population with a long evolutionary history. Bayesian skyline analysis indicates that the historic population has gone through two expansions, likely caused by repeated glacial cycles during the second half of the Pleistocene. The addition of 15 king tarakihi samples (Nemadactylus n.sp.) collected from the Three Kings Islands showed a clear genetic differentiation between the two morphotypes. These findings can inform the future management of N. macropterus and N. n.sp. to ensure a sustainable harvest.

The New Zealand black-foot abalone, Haliotis iris, or pāua, is endemic to the rocky reefs surrounding New Zealand, whose main land mass spans 13° of latitude and separates the Tasman Sea from the Pacific Ocean. In this study, we examined the population genetic structure of this important commercial, cultural and recreational species by genotyping nine microsatellite loci in 485 pāua from 27 locations distributed across mainland New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. We found low, but significant, levels of genetic differentiation. Key genetic breaks were identified among the Chatham Islands and mainland samples; patterns that are strongly corroborated by prior work employing mtDNA sequences. AMOVAs indicated that samples from the south of the North Island were more similar to the South Island samples than to other North Island samples, however multivariate analysis and Bayesian clustering could not identify a significant pattern. Differentiation between the Chatham Islands and the mainland is most likely due to isolation by distance, while differentiation of North Island samples corresponds with major components of New Zealand’s oceanography, Cook Strait and the East Cape. Despite intense fishing pressure, we detected no signature of genetic bottlenecks in any region suggesting that population sizes have remained relatively stable over recent time or that the census size of this species is much larger than its effective population size.

Refer to the current geographies boundaries table for a list of all current geographies and recent updates.

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released statistical area 3 (SA3) boundaries as at 1 January 2025 as defined by Stats NZ, clipped to the coastline. This clipped version has been created for cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries. This version contains 873 SA3s, excluding 4 non-digitised SA3s.

The SA3 geography aims to meet three purposes:

1. approximate suburbs in major, large, and medium urban areas,

2. in predominantly rural areas, provide geographical areas that are larger in area and population size than SA2s but smaller than territorial authorities,

3. minimise data suppression.

SA3s in major, large, and medium urban areas were created by combining SA2s to approximate suburbs as delineated in the Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) Localities dataset. Some of the resulting SA3s have very large populations.

Outside of major, large, and medium urban areas, SA3s generally have populations of 5,000–10,000. These SA3s may represent either a single small urban area, a combination of small urban areas and their surrounding rural SA2s, or a combination of rural SA2s.

Zero or nominal population SA3s

To minimise the amount of unsuppressed data that can be provided in multivariate statistical tables, SA2s with fewer than 1,000 residents are combined with other SA2s wherever possible to reach the 1,000 SA3 population target. However, there are still a number of SA3s with zero or nominal populations.

Small population SA2s designed to maintain alignment between territorial authority and regional council geographies are merged with other SA2s to reach the 5,000–10,000 SA3 population target. These merges mean that some SA3s do not align with regional council boundaries but are aligned to territorial authority.

Small population island SA2s are included in their adjacent land-based SA3.

Island SA2s outside territorial authority or region are the same in the SA3 geography.

Inland water SA2s are aggregated and named by territorial authority, as in the urban rural classification.

Inlet SA2s are aggregated and named by territorial authority or regional council where the water area is outside the territorial authority.

Oceanic SA2s translate directly to SA3s as they are already aggregated to regional council.

The 16 non-digitised SA2s are aggregated to the following 4 non-digitised SA3s (SA3 code; SA3 name):

70001; Oceanic outside region, 70002; Oceanic oil rigs, 70003; Islands outside region, 70004; Ross Dependency outside region.

SA3 numbering and naming

Each SA3 is a single geographic entity with a name and a numeric code. The name refers to a suburb, recognised place name, or portion of a territorial authority. In some instances where place names are the same or very similar, the SA3s are differentiated by their territorial authority, for example, Hillcrest (Hamilton City) and Hillcrest (Rotorua District).

SA3 codes have five digits. North Island SA3 codes start with a 5, South Island SA3 codes start with a 6 and non-digitised SA3 codes start with a 7. They are numbered approximately north to south within their respective territorial authorities. When first created in 2025, the last digit of each code was 0. When SA3 boundaries change in future, only the last digit of the code will change to ensure the north-south pattern is maintained.

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Clipped Version

This clipped version has been created for cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.

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High-definition version

This high definition (HD) version is the most detailed geometry, suitable for use in GIS for geometric analysis operations and for the computation of areas, centroids and other metrics. The HD version is aligned to the LINZ cadastre.

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Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

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Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

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Further information

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

Contact: geography@stats.govt.nz

Statistical Area 1 2023 update

SA1 2023 is the first major update of the geography since it was first created in 2018. The update is to ensure SA1s are relevant and meet criteria before each five-yearly population and dwelling census. SA1 2023 contains 3,251 new SA1s. Updates were made to reflect real world changes including new subdivisions and motorways, improve the delineation of urban rural and other statistical areas and to ensure they meet population criteria by reducing the number of SA1s with small or large populations.

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Description

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released statistical area 1 (SA1) boundaries as at 1 January 2023, as defined by Stats NZ. This version contains 33,164 SA1s (33,148 digitised and 16 with empty or null geometries (non-digitised).

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SA1 is an output geography that allows the release of more low-level data than is available at the meshblock level. Built by joining meshblocks, SA1s have an ideal size range of 100–200 residents, and a maximum population of about 500. This is to minimise suppression of population data in multivariate statistics tables.

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The SA1 should:

form a contiguous cluster of one or more meshblocks,

be either urban, rural, or water in character,

be small enough to:

• allow flexibility for aggregation to other statistical geographies,

• allow users to aggregate areas into their own defined communities of interest,

form a nested hierarchy with statistical output geographies and administrative boundaries. It must:

• be built from meshblocks,

• either define or aggregate to define SA2s, urban rural areas, territorial authorities, and regional councils.

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SA1s generally have a population of 100–200 residents, with some exceptions:

• SA1s with nil or nominal resident populations are created to represent remote mainland areas, unpopulated islands, inland water, inlets, or oceanic areas.

• Some SA1s in remote rural areas and urban industrial or business areas have fewer than 100 residents.

• Some SA1s that contain apartment blocks, retirement villages, and large non-residential facilities (prisons, boarding schools, etc) have more than 500 residents.

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SA1 numbering

SA1s are not named. SA1 codes have seven digits starting with a 7 and are numbered approximately north to south. Non-digitised codes start with 79.

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As new SA1s are created, they are given the next available numeric code. If the composition of an SA1 changes through splitting or amalgamating different meshblocks, the SA1 is given a new code. The previous code no longer exists within that version and future versions of the SA1 classification.

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Digitised and non-digitised SA1s

The digital geographic boundaries are defined and maintained by Stats NZ.

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Aggregated from meshblocks, SA1s cover the land area of New Zealand, the water area to the 12-mile limit, the Chatham Islands, Kermadec Islands, sub-Antarctic islands, off-shore oil rigs, and Ross Dependency. The following 16 SA1s are held in non-digitised form.

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7999901; New Zealand Economic Zone, 7999902; Oceanic Kermadec Islands,7999903; Kermadec Islands, 7999904; Oceanic Oil Rig Taranaki,7999905; Oceanic Campbell Island, 7999906; Campbell Island, 7999907; Oceanic Oil Rig Southland, 7999908; Oceanic Auckland Islands, 7999909; Auckland Islands, 7999910; Oceanic Bounty Islands, 7999911; Bounty Islands, 7999912; Oceanic Snares Islands, 7999913; Snares Islands, 7999914; Oceanic Antipodes Islands, 7999915; Antipodes Islands, 7999916; Ross Dependency.

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For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

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Generalised version

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

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Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

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To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

NZ Suburbs and Localities describes the spatial extent and name of communities in urban areas (suburbs) and rural areas (localities) for navigation and location purposes.

The suburb and locality boundaries cover New Zealand including North Island, South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Chatham Islands, and nearby offshore islands.

Each suburb and locality is assigned a name, major name, Territorial Authority and, if appropriate, additional in use names. A population estimate is provided for each suburb and locality by Stats NZ.

For more information please refer to the NZ Suburbs and Localities Data Dictionary and the LINZ Website

Changes to NZ Suburbs and Localities can be requested by emailing addresses@linz.govt.nz

Change Request Guidance Documents: - Change Request Process - Change Request Principles, Requirements and Rules

APIs and web services

This dataset is available via ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS REST services, as well as our standard APIs. LDS APIs and OGC web services ArcGIS Online map services

The common myna (Acridotheres tristis) is one of the most invasive bird species in the world, yet its colonisation history is only partly understood. We identified the introduction history and population structure, and quantified the genetic diversity of myna populations from the native range in India and the introduced populations in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, and South Africa, based on thousands of single nucleotide polymorphism markers in 814 individuals. We were able to identify the source population of mynas in several invasive locations: mynas from Fiji and Melbourne, Australia, were likely founded by individuals from a subpopulation in Maharashtra, India, while mynas in Hawaii and South Africa were likely independently founded by individuals from other localities in India. Our findings suggest that New Zealand mynas were founded by individuals from Melbourne, which, in turn, were founded by individuals from Maharashtra. We identified two genetic clusters among New Zealand mynas, divided by New Zealand’s North Island’s axial mountain ranges, confirming previous observations that mountains and thick forests may form barriers to myna dispersal. Our study provides a foundation for other population and invasion genomic studies and provides useful information for the management of this invasive species. Methods A total of 183 myna tissue samples in ethanol from India, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Hawaii and Fiji between 1975–1989 were received from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). A further 193 euthanized mynas were obtained from myna control programs from contributors in New Zealand between 2017–2020, and muscle tissue was subsampled from each individual. DNA was extracted from the ROM tissue samples using the DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit (Qiagen) following the manufacturer's protocols. DNA was extracted from the New Zealand tissue samples using the Monarch Genomic DNA Purification Kit (NEB) following the manufacturer's protocols. DNA concentration was measured using a Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific). DNA was diluted to standardized concentrations of 50–100 ng/μL, and sent to Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd company (DArT P/L) for further processing. Samples from 363 individuals were successfully sequenced, including 13 duplicate samples, using the proprietary Diversity Arrays Technology platform and protocol (DArTseq). We included 13 duplicate samples. DArTseq also includes internal replicates of samples as part of its protocol. This dataset consists of raw reads generated from this study (363 individuals, 13 replicates, and 64 DArT internal replicates, totaling 440 files). The raw reads generated from this study were processed and co-analysed with the DArTseq data from 451 mynas from Australia from the Ewart et al. (2019) study (mynas sampled in 2014–2015). Files containing variants called using the BCFtools, STACKS, and DArTsoft14 pipelines can also be found here (See README.md and article supplementary information Appendix S2 for more details).

We gathered imagery from eight invasion sites across the South Island of New Zealand for multiple time steps (2-4 points in time) using a combination of high resolution aerial imagery gathered from the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) archives and high resolution satellite imagery downloaded from Google Earth. To detect the pine trees, we used an unsupervised, pixel-based classification method. First, we thresholded the imagery to separate out the dark-coloured trees against the light-coloured background vegetation (Ke and Quackenbush 2011). Then we segmented the pixels identified as trees using a process called watershedding in order to delineate the tree canopies (Komura et al. 2004, Wang et al. 2004, Deng et al. 2016). We extracted the centre point of each polygon identified as a tree, and for each site and time step, we generated a file of the point locations of every tree detected. To prepare the data derived from the image classification and detection m...

Refer to the 'Current Geographic Boundaries Table' layer for a list of all current geographies and recent updates.

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released urban rural (UR) boundaries as at 1 January 2025 as defined by Stats NZ, clipped to the coastline. This clipped version has been created for cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries. This version contains 689 UR areas, including 195 urban areas and 402 rural settlements.

Urban rural (UR) is an output geography that classifies New Zealand into areas that share common urban or rural characteristics and is used to disseminate a broad range of Stats NZ’s social, demographic and economic statistics.

The UR separately identifies urban areas, rural settlements, other rural areas, and water areas. Urban areas and rural settlements are form-based geographies delineated by the inspection of aerial imagery, local government land designations on district plan maps, address registers, property title data, and any other available information. However, because the underlying meshblock pattern is used to define the geographies, boundaries may not align exactly with local government land designations or what can be seen in aerial images. Other rural areas, and bodies of water represent areas not included within an urban area.

Urban areas are built from the statistical area 2 (SA2) geography, while rural and water areas are built from the statistical area 1 (SA1) geography.

Urban areas

Urban areas are statistically defined areas with no administrative or legal basis. They are characterised by high population density with many built environment features where people and buildings are located close together for residential, cultural, productive, trade and social purposes.

Urban areas are delineated using the following criteria. They:

form a contiguous cluster of one or more SA2s,

contain an estimated resident population of more than 1,000 people and usually have a population density of more than 400 residents or 200 address points per square kilometre,

have a high coverage of built physical structures and artificial landscapes such as:

• residential dwellings and apartments,
• commercial structures, such as factories, office complexes, and shopping centres,
• transport and communication facilities, such as airports, ports and port facilities, railway stations, bus stations and similar transport hubs, and communications infrastructure,
• medical, education, and community facilities,
• tourist attractions and accommodation facilities,
• waste disposal and sewerage facilities,
• cemeteries,
• sports and recreation facilities, such as stadiums, golf courses, racecourses, showgrounds, and fitness centres,
• green spaces, such as community parks, gardens, and reserves,

have strong economic ties where people gather together to work, and for social, cultural, and recreational interaction,

have planned development within the next 5–8 years.

Urban boundaries are independent of local government and other administrative boundaries. However, the Richmond urban area, which is mainly in the Tasman District, is the only urban area that crosses territorial authority boundaries

Rural areas

Rural areas are classified as rural settlements or other rural.

Rural settlements

Rural settlements are statistically defined areas with no administrative or legal basis. A rural settlement is a cluster of residential dwellings about a place that usually contains at least one community or public building.

Rural settlements are delineated using the following criteria. They:

form a contiguous cluster of one or more SA1s,

contain an estimated resident population of 200–1,000, or at least 40 residential dwellings,

represent a reasonably compact area or have a visible centre of population with a population density of at least 200 residents per square kilometre or 100 address points per square kilometre,

contain at least one community or public building, such as a church, school, or shop.

To reach the target SA2 population size of more than 1,000 residents, rural settlements are usually included with other rural SA1s to form an SA2. In some instances, the settlement and the SA2 have the same name, for example, Kirwee rural settlement is part of the Kirwee SA2.

Some rural settlements whose populations are just under 1,000 are a single SA2. Creating separate SA2s for these rural settlements allows for easy reclassification to urban areas if their populations grow beyond 1,000.

Other rural

Other rural areas are the mainland areas and islands located outside urban areas or rural settlements. Other rural areas include land used for agriculture and forestry, conservation areas, and regional and national parks. Other rural areas are defined by territorial authority.

Water

Bodies of water are classified separately, using the land/water demarcation classification described in the Statistical standard for meshblock. These water areas are not named and are defined by territorial authority or regional council.

The water classes include:

inland water – non-contiguous, defined by territorial authority,

inlets (which also includes tidal areas and harbours) – non-contiguous, defined by territorial authority,

oceanic – non-contiguous, defined by regional council.

To minimise suppression of population data, separate meshblocks have been created for marinas. These meshblocks are attached to adjacent land in the UR geography.

Non-digitised

The following 4 non-digitised UR areas have been aggregated from the 16 non-digitised meshblocks/SA2s.

6901; Oceanic outside region, 6902; Oceanic oil rigs, 6903; Islands outside region, 6904; Ross Dependency outside region.

UR numbering and naming

Each urban area and rural settlement is a single geographic entity with a name and a numeric code.

Other rural areas, inland water areas, and inlets are defined by territorial authority; oceanic areas are defined by regional council; and each have a name and a numeric code.

Urban rural codes have four digits. North Island locations start with a 1, South Island codes start with a 2, oceanic codes start with a 6 and non-digitised codes start with 69.

Urban rural indicator (IUR)

The accompanying urban rural indicator (IUR) classifies the urban, rural, and water areas by type. Urban areas are further classified by the size of their estimated resident population:

• major urban area – 100,000 or more residents,
• large urban area – 30,000–99,999 residents,
• medium urban area – 10,000–29,999 residents,
• small urban area – 1,000–9,999 residents.

This was based on 2018 Census data and 2021 population estimates. Their IUR status (urban area size/rural settlement) may change if the 2025 Census population count moves them up or down a category.

The indicators, by name, with their codes in brackets, are:

urban area – major urban (11), large urban (12), medium urban (13), small urban (14),

rural area – rural settlement (21), rural other (22),

water – inland water (31), inlet (32), oceanic (33).

Clipped Version

This clipped version has been created for cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.

​

High definition version

This high definition (HD) version is the most detailed geometry, suitable for use in GIS for geometric analysis operations and for the computation of areas, centroids and other metrics. The HD version is aligned to the LINZ cadastre.

​

Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

​

Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

​

Further information

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

Contact: geography@stats.govt.nz