Net migration swells New Zealand’s population to 4.79 million for year ending June 2017

New Zealand’s population increased by close to 390,000 in the last five years, raising its total population to 4.79 million for the year ending June 2017, revealed Statistics New Zealand.

In the first half of 2017 alone, Kiwi population rose by 100,400, said to be the largest ever increase for this period.

The number of net migrants was 72,300 and the remainder 28,100 was owing to natural increase — deaths subtracted from births.

According to Statistics NZ, the current increase from net migration is equivalent to 15 people per 1,000 population.

Statistics NZ was quoted by interest.co.nz as saying that the growth of this Australasian country in the last five years was nearly 390,000, which exceeds the total population of Christchurch city.

As of June 2016, Christchurch city had a population of 375,000. The statistical agency of New Zealand said that around half of the arrivals in 2016 were in the age group of 15-39, with their net migration being 50,000.

Statistics NZ said most migrants entered the country on short-term work and student visas. Most of them extended their visas or changed over to other visa types. It added that it, therefore, had to consider long-term stayers as part of Kiwi population, and not as short-term visitors.

Of the total population 4.79 million, males made up 2.36 million and females 2.43 million. In other words, there were 100 females for every 97 males.

Bernard Doyle, JBWere strategist, in the first week of August, attributed the economic growth of NZ in the recent years to the growth in its population.

Doyle said that since the dawn of the 21st century, the country’s economy size had grown by around 50 percent. GDP per hour worked increased by 13 percent. He added that in the last five years, their total economic growth depended on more people, who were putting more man-hours at work.

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