Economics consulting firm Infometrics is pleased to announce that Nick Brunsdon, Principal Economist and Lead Demographer, has been appointed to our board of directors. Read

Migration is a lot like rain. When we receive a lot of migration (or rain), having prepared and invested for it, and directed it into the most needed areas, it can make us all better off. Conversely, receiving more migration (or rain) than we are ready for, in the wrong places, can make things worse. Knowing it could rain but never buying a raincoat seems to be an unfortunately good analogy for how we currently seem to approach migration. Read

Infometrics has recently added a new section to our Regional Economic Profile which explores the Pacific Peoples population and their role in regional labour markets. This article outlines the growing significance of New Zealand’s Pacific Peoples population in the context of broader demographic shifts. Read

Last week Stats NZ published the latest subnational population estimates – an exciting time for those of us with a regional demographic focus. In theory, these annual population estimates should be boring – population should follow a fairly stable and predictable trend. However, our economic and demographic environment continues to be anything but boring. This article explores how New Zealand’s population growth has changed over the past year, before diving into the surprises of the subnational population estimates. Read

The population of New Zealand’s cities and towns are constantly changing in response to shifting age structures, fluctuations in net migration, the economic prospects of key industries, and intangible attractiveness. This article explores New Zealand’s larger towns and cities and looks at how they are projected to change. Read

The United Nations has released its 2022 Revision of World Population Prospects. Despite the headline-grabbing expectation that the global population will pass 8 billion next year, population growth is set to slow in the next 10 years. More importantly, the countries driving growth in the working-ag... Read

New population projections from Infometrics suggest that national population growth will slow, and that this trend will be reflected across most regions, which will require even more focus on planning properly for the future. Read

The two drivers for population growth - natural increase and net migration - are changing. Here, we explore the implications of short and long term demographic trends on population growth around the regions over the next ten years. Read

Stats NZ released their latest subnational population estimates on Tuesday, providing us with our annual glimpse into regional population dynamics. In this article, we outline the key trends at a national level, and explore a few of the more interesting regional results. Read

We examine projected household growth around the regions, and ask whether we are currently building enough in the right places. Read