Best Places to Live

The 2001 census figures from Statistics NZ show there are two regions New Zealanders have been the most popular to move too.
Canterbury (Christchurch)
Bay of Plenty (Tauranga)

Many are surprised that Auckland does not feature as the main destination for relocating New Zealanders. Auckland's population is indeed growing quickly, fuelled by immigration and births, and half of all migrants to New Zealand live in the Auckland area.

But more New Zealanders have been moving out of Auckland Region than moving in, particularly people aged 30 years and over. Canterbury and Bay Of Plenty seem to be the regions where New Zealanders prefer to relocate to in New Zealand. Between 1996 and 2001, Canterbury and Bay of Plenty each gained more than 8,000 people from relocation within New Zealand. At the same time, Auckland lost about 2,500 people to other New Zealand regions.

The Bay of Plenty, and especially its main town of Tauranga, have become popular retirement areas owing to their warm, sunny climate.

Canterbury is now home to more than half of the South Island's population. Christchurch, the main city, is often said to be the precision engineering and electronics capital of New Zealand. Christchurch's principal newspaper, The Press, continues to report high numbers of job vacancies.