172,509 MORE

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 152, 26 December 1945, Page 4

172,509 MORE

N.Z. POPULATION

PRELIMINARY CENSUS

COUNT

The inclusion of 44,096 members of the Forces who were overseas at the time the recent census was taken, brings the total population of the Dominion to 1,746,319, a-gain since last census of 172,509, equal to 11 per cent. The figures are given as the preliminary census count in the latest Abstract of Statistics.

The North Island increase of 128,192 has accounted for D 9.8 per cent, of the total increase of population. While the northward drift is not a new feature in the Dominion, it is believed that war conditions accentuated the situation. Some 67.3 per cent, of the total population are now in the North Island, and only 32.7 per cent, in the South Island.

Another feature revealed by the census preliminary figures has been the continued drift from rural centres to the larger towns. The proportion of the population in cities and boroughs was 63.1 per cent, in 1945 as against 59.3 per cent, when the previous census was taken in 1936.

In the South Island, of a total of 41 counties with populations of under 5000, only seven recorded any increase at all and only four of these increased by more than 100 persons. Similarly, in the North Island, out of 44 counties with populations of under 5000 only seven recorded gains. The absence of men overseas must, of course, be taken into consideration. Also, in 1936 several counties had relatively large numbers of prospectors, assisted under relief schemes.