Wellington August 16, : New Zealand’s population has increased by 12,700, or 0.2 percent over the course of the year to be 5.12 million by June 30 which was the lowest annual growth rate since June 1986 New Zealand’s Statistics Department announced on Tuesday. New Zealand’s population changes are an outcome of natural growth (births without deaths) and net migration (migrant arrivals minus departures of migrants), Xinhua news agency quoted Stats NZ as saying.
“The net loss of migration with an overall decrease in natural growth is resulting in this low rate of the population’s growth rate,” population estimates and projections acting manager Rebekah Hennessey stated in an announcement.
In the year that ended in June 2022, the total number of births was 61,000 while the amount of deaths increased by 10.1 percent to 36,900 due to the aging of the population, Hennessey said.
She said this resulted in an increase in natural growth, which decreased to 24,100 in the year that ended in June 2022, down from 27,700 in the year ending June 2021.
Within the broad age group those aged 65 and older was most increasing, with an annual increase of 2.8 percent, she said, adding the majority of the increase was the result of individuals born in the mid-1950s becoming 65 and entering the age bracket.
However, the number of people between the ages of 15 and 39 years has decreased by 0.5 percent that is, 8,700 people.
The drop is due to a decline in population due to migration, as well because more people are leaving of the group into older age, rather than entering this age group from younger age, Hennessey said.
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