CENSUS TOTALS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 24 December 1945, Page 4

CENSUS TOTALS

NEW ZEALAND'S POPULATION 11 PER CENT INCREASE SHOWN Welkngton, This Day. Preliminary totals for the 1945 census disclose an increase over 1936 of 128,413, or 8.2 per cent. If the Maori population is excluded, the increase js 113,476, or 7.6 cent., says the report of the Government statistici 'ns in the latest Abstract of Statistics. The intercensal gain of 128,413 does not take into account 44,096 members of the armed forces overseas at the time of the census. Their inclusion would bring the total population of New Zealand to 1,746,319 and make the intercensal gain 172,509, equal to 11 per cent. “A noteworthy feature of available results has been the disparity in the rates of population growth in the North and South Island.” .ays the report. “The North Island increase of 128,192 accounts for 99.8 per cent of the total increase of population. Some 67.3 per cent of the population were in the North Island and 32.7 per cent in the South Island. This northward drift of population is not a new feature, but the movement has, no doubt, been accentuated by war conditions. “Partly arising out of the same causes and again a continuation of existing trends has been the drift from rural areas to the larger townr. As an indication of this drift it may be observed that the proportion of the population in cities and boroughs was 63.1 per cent in 1945 and 59.3 per cent in 1936. Associated with this trend is the marked increase in counties which beder on the larger centres. “The extent to which smaller counties have declined in population may be illustrated as follows: —In the South Islanc, 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 over 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 it may be noted that in 1936 several counties had relatively large numbers of prospectors assisted undei relief schemes.”