N.I. population gain

Press, 28 July 1976, Page 22

N.I. population gain

Although the population of New Zealand rose by 9.3 per cent in the five years since the last census, provisional information from the 1976 census, released by the Department of Statistics recently, shows that the South Island share of population continues to decline.

The provisional figures show that while the North Island population rose 217,872 to 2,269,235 (a rise of 1.06 per cent) the population of the South Island increased bv onlv 49,586 to 860,848, a rise of 0.6 per cent.

The North Island population now makes up 72.6 per cent of the total, an increase of 0.9 per cent, while the South Island percentage is 0.9 iower, at 27.4 per cent. Since 1956, the population of the South Island has grown by 184,150, compared with the increase of 771,871 in the north. The North Island's share of the total during those years has risen from 68.9 per Cent to 72.6, while the South’s has declined correspondingly from 31.1 to 27.4. Since the 1945 census, the average number of oc-

cupants tor dwellings has slowly declined. In 1945, it was 3.68 persons to a house. In 1951 it feil to 3.61. and the latest figure is 3.35. Although final figures for Maori occupation of dwellings are not yet available, their average, while showing a similar decline, is still about two persons higher. In 1971 the average was 5.1 per-

sons to a dwelling. In the five years to the latest census, the number of dwellings, including temporary buildings, caravans, and tents as well as hotels, motels, and institutions, rose by 124,439 , or 15.3 per cent, to 934,276. The provisional estimate of occupied permanent private dwellings is 925,000, a rise of about 15 per cent since the previous census. •