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Ashburton District

This section provides people and indicator data for Ashburton District.

People data for Ashburton District

Ethnicity by age, proportion in the area and sex: Census 2006, Estimated population change, births, deaths and natural increase from 1996, Projected population change, Household composition

Indicator data for Ashburton District

Health: Life expectancy, Cigarette smoking

Knowledge and Skills: Participation in early childhood education, School leavers with higher qualifications, Educational attainment of the adult population

Paid Work: Workplace injury claims

Economic Standard of Living: Population with low incomes, Household crowding

Civil and Political Rights: Voter turnout - local authority elections, Representation of women in local government

Cultural Identity: Māori language speakers, Language retention

Physical Environment: Drinking water quality

Safety: Road casualties

Social Connectedness: Telephone and internet access in the home

People data for Ashburton District

Ethnicity by age, proportion in the area and sex: Census 2006

Ethnicity European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Age Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
0 - 14 5,199 20.3 630 38.4 165 43.3 96 26.7 24 20.5 5,670 20.7
15 - 24 2,772 10.8 318 19.4 66 17.3 39 10.8 24 20.5 3,054 11.2
25 - 44 6,585 25.7 429 26.1 114 29.9 162 45.0 60 51.3 7,194 26.3
45 - 64 6,735 26.2 210 12.8 27 7.1 51 14.2 12 10.3 6,984 25.5
65 - 74 2,316 9.0 42 2.6 6 1.6 9 2.5 0 0 2,379 8.7
75+ 2,061 8.0 15 0.9 3 0.8 3 0.8 0 0 2,088 7.6
Total 25,671 100.0 1,641 100.0 381 100.0 360 100.0 117 100.0 27,372 100.0
Ethnic % in the area 94.9 6.1 1.4 1.3 0.4 104.1
Sex
Male 12,861 50.1 828 50.5 207 54.3 171 47.5 75 64.1 13,767 50.3
Female 12,813 49.9 810 49.4 171 44.9 186 51.7 42 35.9 13,608 49.7
    100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0

Estimated population change, births, deaths and natural increase from 1996

Year Estimated resident
population at June
Population change Registered births
December year
Registered deaths
December year
Natural increase
December year
Number %
1996 25,700  -  - 322 239 83
1997 25,800 100 0.4 335 224 111
1998 25,900 100 0.4 290 231 59
1999 25,900 0 0.0 311 234 77
2000 25,900 0 0.0 301 216 85
2001 26,000 100 0.4 344 247 97
2002 26,300 300 1.2 295 274 21
2003 26,800 500 1.9 316 236 80
2004 27,200 400 1.5 303 247 56
2005 27,600 400 1.5 348 225 123
2006 28,000 400 1.4 344 231 113
2007 28,400 400 1.4 401 233 168
2008 28,700 300 1.1 384 230 154

Projected population change

Variant Population at 30 June Change 2006 - 2031
2006 2011 2016 2021 2026 2031 Number %
High   29,600 30,800 31,800 32,800 33,600 5,600 20.0
Medium 28,000 29,000 29,700 30,300 30,700 30,900 2,900 10.0
Low   28,500 28,700 28,700 28,600 28,300 300 1.0

Household composition

Household composition 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Couples with children 3,660 42.7 3,348 37.2 3,186 33.5 2,922 29.1 3,192 29.6
Couples without children 2,316 27.0 2,757 30.6 3,129 32.9 3,486 34.8 3,714 34.4
Multi-family 33 0.4 54 0.6 84 0.9 42 0.4 117 1.1
One parent family 573 6.7 630 7.0 675 7.1 753 7.5 756 7.0
One person 1,614 18.9 1,863 20.7 2,118 22.3 2,490 24.8 2,634 24.4
Other multi-person 366 4.3 366 4.1 312 3.3 336 3.4 378 3.5
Total 8,562 100.0 9,012 100.0 9,504 100.0 10,029 100.0 10,791 100.0

Indicator data for Ashburton District

Health

Life expectancy - TLA data not available so regional figure provided

Life expectancy at birth indicates the total number of years a person could expect to live, based on the mortality rates of the population at each age in a given year or period.

  1995 - 1997 2000 - 2002 2005 - 2007
Male Female Male Female Male Female
Life expectancy at birth (years) 75.0 80.4 77.0 82.2 79.0 82.6

Cigarette smoking

The proportion (%) of the population in the area aged 15 years and over who currently smoke cigarettes.

The age-standardised prevalence (%) of cigarette smoking by sex
Year Male Female Total
Number % Number % Number %
1981 2,679 30.2 1,911 22.6 4,587 26.3
1996 2,220 25.7 1,815 22.5 4,053 24.2
2006 2,376 26.5 2,088 23.9 4,458 25.1
The age-specific prevalence (%) of cigarette smoking (not age-standardised)
Year 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+
Number % Number % Number % Number %
1981 990 25.1 1,902 29.2 1,326 27.3 369 14.0
1996 882 31.6 1,857 27.1 1,017 18.8 297 8.0
2006 831 29.0 2,061 30.3 1,260 19.0 306 7.3
The age-standardised prevalence (%) of cigarette smoking by ethnicity 2006
Sex European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Male 1,902 26.3 213 45.6 51 44.9 24 21.8 306 22.7 2,376 26.4
Female 1,689 23.5 252 50.2 27 26.2 18 10.0 222 17.2 2,088 23.7
Total 3,582 24.9 462 47.4 81 39.7 33 10.1 543 20.7 4,458 25.1

Knowledge and Skills

Participation in early childhood education

The number of 3 and 4 year olds enrolled in early childhood education centres or home-based education programmes as a proportion of all 3 and 4 year olds, and the number and proportion of Year 1 students who indicated they have attended some form of early childhood education.

"Apparent" participation rate, 3 and 4 year olds (numbers can add to more than 100%)
Year Participation rate % Number enrolled
3 year 4 year Total 3 year 4 year Total
2001 103 110 107 329 358 687
2002 104 112 108 355 367 722
2003 113 110 112 350 390 740
2004 104 121 112 374 382 756
2005 105 104 105 344 383 727
2006 111 115 113 368 381 749
2007 97 101 99 332 368 700
2008 104 112 108 387 388 775
Early childhood attendance by Year 1 students, by ethnic group
Year European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
2000 324 95.6 15 93.8 1 100.0 2 100.0 0 0.0 342 95.5
2001 319 94.9 25 96.2 1 100.0 2 100.0 0 0.0 347 95.1
2002 309 98.4 15 100.0 4 100.0 2 100.0 2 100.0 333 98.5
2003 315 98.1 23 100.0 3 100.0 1 100.0 5 100.0 347 98.3
2004 331 97.6 27 93.1 2 100.0 2 66.7 3 100.0 365 97.1
2005 294 97.7 38 100.0 3 75.0 2 100.0 5 100.0 342 97.7
2006 330 97.6 36 97.3 5 100.0 7 100.0 2 100.0 380 97.7
2007 291 98.3 42 100.0 5 100.0 2 100.0 6 100.0 346 98.6
2008 291 98.0 43 100.0 8 100.0 8 88.9 8 100.0 358 98.1

School leavers with higher qualifications

The proportion of school leavers who had attained a qualification at National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 or above, and the proportion who leave with Bursary and above.

School leavers with higher qualifications, by sex
Year NCEA Level 2 or higher Bursary or higher
Sex (%) Total Sex (%) Total
Male Female Number % Male Female Number %
2005 54.3 72.1 208 63.2 26.8 44.2 117 35.6
2006 53.1 68.6 188 59.9 28.8 48.9 118 37.6
2007 54.7 69.2 214 62.4 26.7 36.8 110 32.1
School leavers with higher qualifications, by ethnicity
NCEA Level 2 or higher
Year European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
2005 188 63.3 13 59.1 ..s ..s 0 0.0 ..s ..s 208 63.2
2006 176 65.2 ..s ..s ..s ..s 0 0.0 ..s ..s 188 59.9
2007 192 66.0 13 36.1 ..s ..s ..s ..s ..s ..s 214 62.4
Bursary or higher
Year European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
2005 107 36.0 6 27.3 ..s ..s 0 0.0 ..s ..s 117 35.6
2006 109 40.4 ..s ..s ..s ..s 0 0.0 ..s ..s 118 37.6
2007 103 35.4 ..s ..s ..s ..s ..s ..s ..s ..s 110 32.1

Educational attainment of the adult population

The proportion of adults aged 25 - 64 years with an educational attainment of at least upper secondary school level.

Proportion (%) and number aged 25 - 64 with higher qualifications, by age and sex, 2006
Sex 25 - 44 45 - 64 25 - 64
Number % Number % Number %
At least upper secondary 
Male 2,589 76.9 2,013 60.7 4,599 68.8
Female 2,868 82.3 2,085 64.3 4,956 73.7
Total 5,454 79.6 4,101 62.5 9,555 71.3
At least tertiary
Male 291 8.6 225 6.8 516 7.7
Female 480 13.8 213 6.6 696 10.3
Total 771 11.3 441 6.7 1,212 9.0
Proportion (%) and number aged 25 - 64 with higher qualifications, by ethnic group and year
Year European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
At least upper secondary
1986 5,562 51.3 78 36.1 3 20.0 9 37.5 3 100.0 5,637 50.9
1991 6,528 56.1 114 40.0 3 20.0 33 55.0 0 0.0 6,657 55.7
1996 7,029 57.7 213 44.9 15 45.5 45 48.4 12 80.0 7,188 57.1
2001 7,926 67.4 252 56.4 27 69.2 60 71.4 15 83.3 8,153 67.1
2006 9,159 71.8 330 57.3 66 57.9 156 85.2 60 100.0 9,555 71.3
At least tertiary
1986 384 3.5 3 1.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 100.0 386 3.5
1991 432 3.7 3 1.1 0 0.0 3 5.0 0 0.0 438 3.7
1996 558 4.6 9 1.9 3 9.1 24 25.8 6 40.0 579 4.6
2001 711 6.1 18 4.0 3 7.7 15 17.9 3 16.7 738 6.1
2006 1,155 9.1 18 3.1 6 5.3 45 24.6 9 15.0 1,212 9.0

Paid Work

Workplace injury claims

The number of workplace accident insurance claims reported to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), excluding those employees who received accident and emergency treatment only.

December year Number of claims by sex % of claims by sex
Male Female Total Male Female
2002 2,545 654 3,199 79.6 20.4
2003 2,372 649 3,021 78.5 21.5
2004 2,324 685 3,009 77.2 22.8
2005 2,404 754 3,158 76.1 23.9
2006 2,273 769 3,042 74.7 25.3
2007 2,297 809 3,106 74.0 26.0

Economic Standard of Living

Population with low incomes

The proportion of people living in households with real gross income less than 60 per cent of the median household equivalised national income benchmarked at 2001.

Population with low incomes, by ethnicity
Year European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
1986 4,746 25.0 135 27.1 18 31.6 18 40.0 0 0.0 4,968 25.3
1991 6,120 30.7 234 36.4 24 50.0 36 44.4 3 50.0 6,381 30.9
1996 4,965 24.5 267 29.8 36 42.9 45 30.0 9 42.9 5,211 24.7
2001 3,528 17.6 243 27.2 27 31.0 45 34.1 0 0.0 3,750 17.9
2006 3,561 16.1 252 20.1 75 31.3 72 25.5 15 16.1 3,825 16.4
Population with low incomes, by age
Year 0 - 14 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+ Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
1986 1,545 32.9 354 12.6 1,242 22.3 807 20.2 1,017 39.3 4,968 25.3
1991 1,542 34.5 480 18.4 1,419 23.5 1,308 29.1 1,626 52.8 6,381 30.9
1996 1,344 29.3 330 14.4 1,104 18.1 993 20.7 1,446 43.5 5,211 24.7
2001 957 21.1 237 12.2 702 12.0 729 13.7 1,128 34.2 3,750 17.9
2006 825 16.8 210 8.8 597 9.7 705 11.5 1,485 39.9 3,825 16.4
Population with low incomes, by sex
Year Male Female
Number % Number %
1986 2,265 23.0 2,700 27.5
1991 2,943 28.3 3,435 33.5
1996 2,301 21.7 2,910 27.8
2001 1,608 15.2 2,145 20.6
2006 1,725 14.7 2,103 18.2

Household crowding

The proportion of the population living in crowded housing (ie requiring one or more additional bedrooms, as defined by the Canadian Crowding Index).

Household crowding, by ethnicity
Year European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
1986 1,566 7.0 114 18.3 12 20.0 9 15.0 0 0.0 1,725 7.2
1991 1,182 5.3 144 18.9 0 0.0 33 30.6 3 50.0 1,389 5.8
1996 721 3.2 144 13.1 7 6.9 14 7.6 5 17.2 879 3.6
2001 543 2.4 93 8.7 6 5.7 18 10.5 0 0.0 666 2.8
2006 642 2.6 249 16.4 129 35.2 21 6.3 12 11.8 975 3.7
Household crowding, by age
Year 0 - 9 10 - 14 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+ Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
1986 309 8.6 252 11.0 522 14.1 414 6.0 204 4.3 24 0.9 1,725 7.2
1991 276 7.8 180 9.8 375 11.7 393 5.5 144 2.9 18 0.6 1,389 5.8
1996 213 6.0 110 6.3 209 7.2 248 3.6 84 1.5 15 0.4 879 3.6
2001 174 5.2 90 4.8 120 4.8 189 2.8 81 1.3 9 0.2 666 2.8
2006 261 7.3 126 6.4 207 7.1 276 3.9 90 1.3 12 0.3 975 3.7
Household crowding, by sex
Year Male Female
Number % Number %
1986 915 7.6 807 6.8
1991 732 6.1 657 5.6
1996 459 3.8 420 3.5
2001 327 2.7 339 2.8
2006 507 3.8 465 3.6

Civil and Political Rights

Voter turnout - local authority elections

The proportion of all enrolled electors (both resident and ratepayer) who cast a vote in territorial authority elections.

Election year 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007
Voter turnout (%) 75.0 69.0 73.8 61.0 65.0 61.0 51.0

Representation of women in local government

The proportion of female council and mayoral candidates, and elected members or mayors, in local authority elections.

Election activity 2001 2004 2007
Council Mayor Council Mayor Council Mayor
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Women candidates 3 19.0 1 25.0 4 22.0 0 0.0 2 13.0 0 0.0
Women voted in 3 25.0 0 n/a 2 17.0 0 n/a 2 17.0 0 n/a

Cultural Identity

Māori language speakers

The number of Māori who can hold a conversation about everyday things in Māori, as a proportion of the Māori population, and the total number of Māori speakers as a proportion of the total population.

Speakers of Māori 0 - 14 15 - 29 30 - 49 50 - 64 65+ Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
1996 Māori 36 8.6 36 11.8 36 12.0 21 22.6 3 9.1 132 11.4
Total population 57 1.1 69 1.5 66 0.9 30 0.8 6 0.2 228 0.9
2001 Māori 27 6.0 48 17.4 45 14.2 24 24.2 6 15.4 141 12.0
Total population 63 1.2 78 1.9 75 1.0 33 0.7 18 0.4 261 1.0
2006 Māori 33 5.2 54 12.4 54 14.1 15 11.1 12 22.2 174 10.6
  Total population 60 1.1 90 2.0 99 1.3 27 0.5 15 0.3 291 1.1

Language retention

The proportion of people who can speak the "first language" (excluding English) of their ethnic group, for ethnic groups (other than Māori) with an established resident population in New Zealand.

  Born in NZ Overseas born Total
2001 2006 2001 2006 2001 2006
Language retention  (%) 19.1 12.6 79.7 65.3 53.1 39.1

Physical Environment

Drinking water quality (can be more than 100% and highly variable)

The proportion of the estimated resident population who receive their water from community water supplies whose drinking water complies with either the 2000 or 2005 Drinking-water standards for New Zealand relating to E. coli and Cryptosporidium.

Year E. coli (%) Cryptosporidium (%)
2001 73.6 0.0
2002 67.6 0.0
2003 66.0 0.0
2004 72.6 0.0
2005 67.5 0.0
2006/2007 13.7 57.3
2007/2008 68.9 1.3

Safety

Road casualties

The number of people injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes per 100,000 of the total population.

Year Injuries Deaths
Number Rate per 100,000 Rate per 100,000
2001 63 247.1 19.6
2002 55 209.9 11.5
2003 75 283.0 26.4
2004 72 269.7 22.5
2005 74 275.1 7.4
2006 61 224.3 14.7
2007 93 327.5 21.1
2008 83 289.2 24.4

Social Connectedness

Telephone and internet access in the home

The proportion of the population with telephone and internet access in the home.

Telephone access (%)
Year Ethnicity Sex Age Total
European Māori Pacific Asian Other Male Female 0 - 14 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+
1996 98.1 91.7 97.1 93.4 70.0 97.4 98.2 97.1 96.7 97.7 98.5 98.6 97.8
2001 98.6 93.3 94.3 98.2 100.0 98.1 98.6 98.4 97.2 98.1 99.0 98.6 98.3
2006 99.1 97.4 93.2 99.1 97.1 98.8 99.2 99.1 98.5 98.7 99.2 99.2 99.0
Internet access (%)
Year Ethnicity Sex Age Total
European Māori Pacific Asian Other Male Female 0 - 14 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+
2001 36.8 27.2 22.9 52.6 66.7 38.0 35.8 46.9 40.9 42.3 37.8 9.5 36.9
2006 64.9 49.9 28.2 65.5 67.6 64.2 63.4 74.5 63.3 70.4 68.1 31.5 63.9