Record for population 2023 growth

New Zealand has had its largest population increase: 145,100 new Kiwis arrived in the year to December 2023.

It is the largest increase since the data series started in 1991 and puts New Zealand’s population at

5,305,600.

The previous largest increase was in 2016 when the population grew by

103,900 to 476,7600.

Just 19,100 of the most recent increase was because of a “natural population increase”; migration accounted for 126,000 new people.

The biggest increase was in 35 to

39-year-old men, with 8.9 per cent more of them than last year.

Women in the same age group increased 6.6 per cent.

The second largest increase (6.9 per cent) was among the 75 to 79-yearold group. The reason for this appears to go back to World War II.

The 35 to 39 age group had growth across all age groups, including among those who turned 40 in 2023 and graduated to the 40 to 44 age group. But the 75 to 79 age group saw no change in the number of 75-yearolds between 2022 and 2023 and a drop in 80-year-olds.

In 1942 and 1943, as World War II raged and many New Zealanders were deployed overseas, the number of babies born fell.

This was followed by a “boom” in births every year from 1944 to 1947.

This can be seen today in a decrease in the number of 80 and

81-year-olds in 2023 compared to

2022 — corresponding to babies born in 1943 and 1942 — and large increases in the ages corresponding to babies born between 1944 and 1947.

Men are outnumbering women in the data across almost all age groups.

Statistics NZ only provides data for male and female population increases.

The only age range where women number higher than men is in the 75 to 79-year-old group which also has one of the highest increases overall, coming in behind the 35 to 39 group.

The annual net migration loss of

47,000 New Zealand citizens in 2023 is a new annual record. Based on the latest estimates, 53 per cent of New Zealand citizen migrant departures were to Australia.