Urban–rural profile

This section provides information on the urban and rural populations in Aotearoa New Zealand.  Urban and rural populations may be exposed to different types of environmental hazards.

Most people live in main urban areas

Most New Zealanders live in the urban areas. In 2024:

• 51.0% of the population lived in the major urban areas of Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton, Tauranga, Dunedin and Lower Hutt
• 13.8% lived in large urban areas (such as Rotorua, Whanganui and Invercargill)
• 9.0% lived in medium urban areas (such as Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Rolleston)
• 10.5% lived in small urban areas (such as Thames, Stratford and Gore)
• 15.7% of New Zealanders lived in rural areas.

The New Zealand population has become increasingly urban, like the rest of the world. The size of New Zealand cities has grown in both population count and land area.

Working on the land is no longer a major occupation. Agriculture still plays a major part in the New Zealand economy, but the agricultural workforce has shrunk significantly [1]. In 1951, almost 20 percent of the workforce worked as an agriculture, forestry or fishery worker [2]. This proportion had dropped to 5.1% of employed people aged 15+ years in 2023. 

Figure 1 gives the urban-rural status of small areas around New Zealand (zoom in using the "+" to see more detail, and click the ">>" for the legend).

Figure 1: Urban-rural classifications, by Statistical Area 2 (SA2), 2018

Urban and rural populations are exposed to different types of environmental hazards

Urban and rural environments can be quite different, so it makes sense that their environmental hazards can also be quite different.

Urban areas have higher numbers of people, and people living closer together. The increased numbers of people can allow good environmental management, such as water treatment plants, wastewater treatment, and public transport.

However, the concentrated numbers of people and energy use in urban areas can put pressure on the environment.  Environmental hazards more likely in urban areas include:

• air pollution, which comes primarily from wood and coal fires, motor vehicles, and industry
• hazardous substances, if residential zones are close to industrial zones
• noise and air pollution from main transport routes
• urban heat islands.

With most people living in towns and cities, it also follows that the highest numbers of vulnerable people will live in our cities.

The rural environment can encourage a healthy lifestyle.

But in rural areas, the smaller population size means that services such as water and sewerage treatment plants are less cost-effective.

Environmental hazards that are more likely in rural areas include:

• untreated drinking-water, which increases the risk of water-borne diseases
• contact with livestock, which can carry zoonotic diseases and pollute waterways
• lack of tertiary wastewater treatment to kill pathogens in human sewage, which can lead to freshwater and coastal beaches being unsuitable for swimming
• lack of reticulated (piped) sewerage systems, which can have local environmental impacts (for example, if septic tanks overflow)
• longer travel distances to access health services, which can be a barrier to health care.

Information about the data

Subnational population estimates (urban rural), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996-2024 (2024 boundaries)
Source: Stats NZ 

Definition: This data comes from subnational population estimates, published by Stats NZ on the Aotearoa Data Explorer [3]. The subnational population estimates at 30 June 2024 are provisional. They are based on boundaries at 1 January 2024. The indicator measures the number and percentage of people living in urban and rural areas, based on the Urban Rural Indicator (IUR):

• major urban area (100,000+ residents)
• large urban area (30,000–99,999 residents)
• medium urban area (10,000–29,999 residents)
• small urban area (1,000–9,999 residents)
• rural/other areas (less than 1,000 residents); these include ‘rural settlements’ (which have 200–999 residents or at least 40 dwellings) and ‘other rural areas’. 

In the 2022 classification, there were 7 major urban areas, 13 large urban areas, 22 medium urban areas, 146 small urban areas, and 389 rural settlements.