Doctors making top dollar

An ageing population is turning medicine into the nation’s bestpaid career.

According to the latest figures from Seek, general practitioners remain the top earners in New Zealand.

And GPs in Canterbury are earning more than anyone, with an average salary of almost $142,000 in the year to July.

The national average for GPs was $138,000. Doctors in Wellington came in second with salaries at $127,300, and Auckland third with $122,100.

Seek New Zealand general manager Janet Faulding said the chronic shortage of GPs across the country was a matter of public record, and this shortage was expected to continue as the baby boomer doctors retired.

‘‘New Zealand’s ageing and growing population is putting further pressure on demand for the services of GPs.’’

Faulding said medical recruitment agencies had seen an increase in the number of applicants from Australia, and this would help ease the shortage.

Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Hawkes Bay and Canterbury had the most GP vacancies in the last year.

Last year, information compiled by the Ministry of Education and Statistics New Zealand showed medical students go on to earn a median of $128,469 in the first nine years after graduation.

That was about 240 per cent more than the national median income of $37,613.

Across all job sectors Wellington offered the top average salary of $82,400, up 2.3 per cent.

Auckland was second with $76,700 (up 1 per cent) and Canterbury third at $74,000 (up 1.7 per cent), Seek’s figures show.