The North Island's rapid population growth has seen what's called the 'median centre of population' shift further north, Statistics NZ revealed on Thursday.
The median centre of population is found by dividing the country in half from north to south, with half the population above it and the rest below, and doing the same for east and west.
This year it sits about 1km off the coast of Kawhia, a small beach town southwest of Hamilton. Since 1921, it's moved 281km northwards and as recently as 1997 it was as far south as Lake Taupo.
Seventy-seven percent of Kiwis now live in the North Island (3.67 million), with the fastest growth recorded in Kaipara (3.7 percent), Waikato (3.4), Waipa (2.7) and Auckland (2.4).
"We're seeing high growth in our big cities, but also in the areas surrounding them, driven by migration," says population statistics senior manager Peter Dolan.
Population density has increased from 13 people per square kilometre in 1993 to 18 now - but it's as high as 18,000 in central Auckland.
The North Island's growth was 2.2 percent, while the South Island lagged behind on 1.8 percent.
Auckland now has 1.66 million people, up 42,700 in the year to June. The fastest-growing region was Waitemata, largely thanks to migration.
The only region with a declining population is the South Island's West Coast, dropping from 32,500 to 32,400.
The oldest population is in Tasman, with an average age of 46.1. Auckland is the youngest, with half the population under 34.
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