Age profile

This section describes the age structure of Aotearoa New Zealand’s population. It also explains why children and older adults are more at risk from environmental hazards.

Our population age structure

In 2023, in the total population [1]:

• 18.7% of people were children (aged 0–14 years)
• 64.7% of people were working age (aged 15–64 years)
• 16.6% of people were aged 65 years and over (65+ years).

An ageing population

Our population is getting older. Older adults make up an increasingly large proportion of the New Zealand population:

• 2006: 495,600 people aged 65+ years (12.3% of the population)
• 2013: 607,000 people aged 65+ years (14.3% of the population)
• 2018: 715,200 people aged 65+ years (15.2% of the population)
• 2023: 828,600 people aged 65+ years (16.6% of the population).

Older adults will make up an increasingly large proportion of the population over the next 20–30 years (Figure 1). The population aged 65+ years is projected to increase to 1.9 million adults (28.2% of the population) by 2073 [2].

The number of older people aged 85+ years is also expected to increase substantially. Population projections show that the percentage of older adults aged 85+ years is expected to increase from 1.8% of the New Zealand in 2023, to 4.7% by 2048, and 6.3% by 2073. 

Figure 1: Projected older adult population, as a percentage of the total population in New Zealand, 2020–2073

Regional differences in age structure

In 2023, some territorial authorities in New Zealand had a younger population (Figure 2), while others had an older population (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Children aged 0–14 years, by territorial authority, 2023 (% of the total population) 

Figure 3: Older adults aged 65+ years, by territorial authority, 2023 (% of the total population) 

Younger and older people are more vulnerable to environmental risks

Infants and children can be particularly affected by the environment due to several reasons [3,4,5]:

• Children are still developing and growing, which makes them more susceptible to toxins and illness.
• Children’s breathing rate is higher than adults, making them more susceptible to air pollution.
• Children have limited mobility, so spend longer in one place and must depend on others to move them out of dangerous areas.
• Their behaviour includes lots of hand-to-mouth activity, which exposes them more to some hazards (eg, lead from soil).
• Children spend most of their time in the home environment.
• Children’s younger age and longer life expectancy means that they may yet be affected by some hazardous substances with long lag (latency) periods.

Older adults can also be more affected by environmental hazards.

• Older adults may have limited mobility, strength and balance. This means they are in one place for longer periods, and depend on others to move them out of dangerous areas. 
• Older adults have higher rates of chronic disease, which can make them more sensitive to environmental hazards like air pollution. For example, days with lots of air pollution will be tolerated less by people with chronic lung disease, because their lungs are already working hard to cope at ‘normal’ levels of air pollution. 
• Older adults are more sensitive to dehydration on very hot days, and the effects of cold weather.

Information about the data

Census usually resident population, by age
Source: New Zealand 2023 Census of Population and Dwellings

Definition: This data comes from the 2023 Census of Population and Dwellings. Stats NZ used a combined census model, using data from both census forms and alternative sources such as administrative data. For population data, see Stats NZ’s Aotearoa Data Explorer [1]. For more information on data quality of the 2023 Census, see Stats NZ https://www.stats.govt.nz/2023-census/. 

National population projections, by age and sex
Source: Stats NZ

Definition: This data comes from Stats NZ, from the Aotearoa Data Explorer [1]. The data tables contain 2020-based projections of the population usually living in New Zealand. Stochastic (probabilistic) population projections are produced to give measures of uncertainty. The data provided on this webpage refer to the 50th percentiles (ie, median) values. For more information, see National population projections, by age and sex, 2020(base)-2073.