For the first June year since 2013, natural increase (births minus deaths) was the main driver of annual population
growth, Stats NZ said today.
New Zealand’s population provisionally grew by 32,400 people, or 0.6 percent, to reach 5.12 million at 30 June 2021.
This is the first full June year during the COVID-19 pandemic, where border closures and travel restrictions reduced net
migration, giving the lowest annual growth since June 2012 (when the population grew by 0.5 percent).
“Net migration has been the main driver of New Zealand’s population growth in recent years, but for the June 2021 year,
natural increase was nearly six times higher than the contribution from net migration,” population estimates and
projections manager Hamish Slack said.
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