By 3 News online staff
New Zealand is ahead of Australia in terms of population growth and is at its fastest rate in more than a decade.
New data from Statistics New Zealand shows New Zealand's population grew by 89,600 people, or 1.9 percent, in the year to June 30 this year which stems from net migration of 58,300 and natural increase of 28,700.
In comparison, Australia's population is growing by 1.4 percent a year.
Population statistics manager Vina Cullum says the last time New Zealand population grew this much was in 2003 when it hit 2 percent, while the last time the country outpaced Australia was in 2004.
Meanwhile, the amount older working-age populations, defined by Stats NZ as being 40-64, is higher than it was 20 years ago in comparison to younger workers aged between 15 and 39.
Currently, younger workers account for 33.3 percent of the total population, while those more experienced workers make up 32.2 percent.
Stats NZ says two decades ago, those figures were 38.7 percent and 26.7 percent respectively.
New Zealand's estimated resident population hit 4.6 million at June 30 this year.
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