Growth rate in Chch negligible

Press, 16 December 1985, Page 2

Growth rate in Chch negligible

By OLIVER RIDDELL in Wellington Two metropolitan areas — Wellington and Dunedin — have declining population while growth in Christchurch is infinitesimal, according to a report from the population monitoring group ’ of the Planning Council. In Southland, coastal and North Otago, Aorangi, the West Coast, Wellington, Wairarapa, Wanganui, and Tongariro, populations fell in the last year. Growth for North Canterbury was only about 1 per cent, but horticulture gave Nelson and Marlborough better growth, as did hydro projects for Clutha and Central Otago. Population growth in 1984-85 was substantially lower for the whole country than in 1983-84. Although there was a slight increase in the number of births over deaths, so many people

went overseas that migration growth was well down. The group said that population growth would continue to be slow in the foreseeable future. While natural increase was higher among Maoris than non-Maoris, falling birth rates and net emigration were reducing the overall growth rate for the Maori population. These trends suggested that not only would there be a lower proportion of the total population that was Maori by the turn of the century than had been forecast, but there would also continue to be a drop in the proportion of Maoris at young ages. The pattern of population distribution continues to show a concentration in Northland, Auckland and the Bay of Plenty. Recent employment growth mainly affected those regions that were already growing.