More households projected in all regions

Subnational Family and Household Projections: 2006(base) – 2031  –  Media Release

All 16 regional council areas of New Zealand are projected to have more households in 2031 than in 2006, according to projections released by Statistics New Zealand today. This is based on the 'medium series' of the 2006-base subnational family and household projections. By comparison, the population of three regional council areas is projected to be smaller in 2031 compared with 2006.

The higher growth rate in the number of households compared with the population is due to a projected decrease in average household size for all regional council areas and territorial authorities. This reflects an increasing proportion of one-person households and a decrease in the average size of family households. These trends are driven mainly by the general ageing of the population. Average family size is projected to decline largely because of an increase in the proportion of 'couple without children' families (which contain two people) and a decrease in the proportion of 'two-parent' families (which contain about four people, on average).

The Auckland region is projected to account for almost half of the national increase in households between 2006 and 2031, increasing from 466,000 to 726,000. Over the same period, it is projected to account for 62 percent of New Zealand's population growth. By 2031, 35 percent of all households in New Zealand will be in the Auckland region, up from 30 percent in 2006.

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Kim Dunstan
Christchurch 03 964 8700
Email: demography@stats.govt.nz