Latest Social Report 2016 | Social Report 2009 | Previous reports | Contact us

Palmerston North City

This section provides people and indicator data for Palmerston North City.

People data for Palmerston North City

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 Palmerston North City

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 Palmerston North City

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 12,000 19.7 4,047 35.8 1,059 38.5 1,005 18.6 240 28.8 15,324 20.3
15 - 24 11,211 18.4 2,529 22.4 630 22.9 1,569 29.0 183 21.9 14,721 19.5
25 - 44 16,044 26.4 3,156 27.9 705 25.6 1,749 32.3 288 34.5 20,808 27.5
45 - 64 13,569 22.3 1,275 11.3 291 10.6 846 15.6 114 13.7 15,936 21.1
65 - 74 3,975 6.5 216 1.9 39 1.4 165 3.1 15 1.8 4,434 5.9
75+ 4,041 6.6 84 0.7 21 0.8 81 1.5 0 0 4,317 5.7
Total 60,837 100.0 11,313 100.0 2,754 100.0 5,409 100.0 834 100.0 75,543 100.0
Ethnic % in the area 82.7 15.4 3.7 7.4 1.1 110.3
Sex
Male 28,974 47.6 5,577 49.3 1,413 51.3 2,565 47.4 444 53.2 36,348 48.1
Female 31,863 52.4 5,736 50.7 1,341 48.7 2,844 52.6 387 46.4 39,192 51.9
    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 75,200  -  - 1,146 511 635
1997 75,300 100 0.1 1,090 448 642
1998 75,200 -100 -0.1 1,044 520 524
1999 75,500 300 0.4 1,051 505 546
2000 75,400 -100 -0.1 1,099 468 631
2001 75,200 -200 -0.3 1,039 499 540
2002 75,800 600 0.8 1,016 492 524
2003 76,900 1,100 1.5 1,001 491 510
2004 77,800 900 1.2 1,023 565 458
2005 78,000 200 0.3 1,113 520 593
2006 78,500 500 0.6 1,080 564 516
2007 78,800 300 0.4 1,151 493 658
2008 79,300 500 0.6 1,183 540 643

Projected population change

Variant Population at 30 June Change 2006 - 2031
2006 2011 2016 2021 2026 2031 Number %
High   84,100 89,300 94,400 99,200 103,900 25,400 32.0
Medium 78,500 82,100 85,400 88,400 91,100 93,600 15,100 19.0
Low   80,100 81,400 82,400 83,200 83,600 5,100 6.0

Household composition

Household composition 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Couples with children 7,986 36.3 7,848 33.1 7,419 29.9 6,966 27.2 7,299 26.8
Couples without children 5,184 23.6 5,661 23.9 6,462 26.1 6,651 25.9 7,269 26.7
Multi-family 201 0.9 270 1.1 456 1.8 396 1.5 486 1.8
One parent family 2,304 10.5 2,778 11.7 3,048 12.3 3,324 13.0 3,516 12.9
One person 4,041 18.4 4,680 19.8 4,986 20.1 6,069 23.7 6,507 23.9
Other multi-person 2,289 10.4 2,448 10.3 2,430 9.8 2,229 8.7 2,133 7.8
Total 22,005 100.0 23,685 100.0 24,804 100.0 25,635 100.0 27,210 100.0

Indicator data for Palmerston North City

Health

Life expectancy

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) 75.5 79.7 77.5 81.7 77.1 82.2

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 7,422 32.3 6,900 28.0 14,325 30.0
1996 5,637 21.6 5,910 21.1 11,553 21.3
2006 5,667 21.7 5,748 20.3 11,409 21.0
The age-specific prevalence (%) of cigarette smoking (not age-standardised)
Year 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+
Number % Number % Number % Number %
1981 4,725 30.5 5,307 32.8 3,327 30.7 966 16.6
1996 3,339 21.8 5,265 26.0 2,328 19.7 621 8.9
2006 3,204 23.5 4,815 24.8 2,793 18.7 597 7.4
The age-standardised prevalence (%) of cigarette smoking by ethnicity 2006
Sex European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Male 3,735 21.1 1,179 33.4 273 31.6 366 16.7 693 17.3 5,667 21.7
Female 4,107 20.2 1,572 41.5 231 25.1 105 3.9 558 15.3 5,748 20.3
Total 7,839 20.6 2,751 37.7 510 29.0 486 10.5 1,263 16.5 11,409 21.0

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 105 113 109 1,070 1,170 2,240
2002 103 112 107 1,023 1,139 2,162
2003 107 109 108 1,066 1,119 2,185
2004 108 113 110 1,134 1,149 2,283
2005 109 114 112 1,068 1,195 2,263
2006 113 116 114 1,116 1,126 2,242
2007 111 114 113 1,170 1,149 2,319
2008 102 111 107 1,069 1,167 2,236
Early childhood attendance by Year 1 students, by ethnic group
Year European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
2000 711 96.9 232 96.7 37 97.4 47 95.9 16 100.0 1,049 96.8
2001 686 97.6 209 95.9 30 96.8 48 96.0 11 91.7 985 97.0
2002 662 97.6 231 95.9 32 91.4 48 100.0 17 94.4 998 97.1
2003 638 98.3 269 96.4 52 96.3 48 94.1 15 88.2 1,024 97.3
2004 610 98.9 254 97.3 44 97.8 50 96.2 21 95.5 984 98.2
2005 669 99.0 268 97.1 39 100.0 55 98.2 20 95.2 1,052 98.4
2006 660 98.7 293 97.7 45 100.0 59 95.2 22 100.0 1,079 98.3
2007 538 98.9 274 97.5 63 95.5 60 96.8 18 90.0 953 97.9
2008 537 98.5 271 97.5 59 98.3 60 98.4 24 96.0 951 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 52.1 60.4 738 56.2 27.8 34.9 411 31.3
2006 57.7 64.4 749 61.3 30.6 39.6 433 35.4
2007 63.6 69.5 814 66.6 34.2 44.2 480 39.3
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 579 62.1 77 30.6 21 43.8 44 75.9 17 73.9 738 56.2
2006 556 65.0 93 40.6 15 45.5 69 80.2 16 88.9 749 61.3
2007 583 68.2 112 50.9 29 64.4 54 88.5 36 87.8 814 66.6
Bursary or higher
Year European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
2005 326 35.0 28 11.1 7 14.6 37 63.8 13 56.5 411 31.3
2006 318 37.2 39 17.0 3 9.1 61 70.9 12 66.7 433 35.4
2007 358 41.9 44 20.0 15 33.3 46 75.4 17 41.5 480 39.3

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 7,767 83.2 5,277 74.1 13,041 79.2
Female 8,823 86.1 5,523 71.5 14,343 79.8
Total 16,587 84.7 10,797 72.7 27,384 79.5
At least tertiary
Male 2,175 23.3 1,533 21.5 3,711 22.5
Female 2,931 28.6 1,464 19.0 4,392 24.4
Total 5,106 26.1 3,000 20.2 8,106 23.5
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 15,642 61.7 678 40.7 177 50.0 438 64.9 51 77.3 16,778 60.5
1991 18,351 67.9 1,188 49.7 258 51.8 669 62.5 72 72.7 20,135 66.0
1996 19,668 68.8 1,806 53.2 348 51.6 1,104 63.6 177 74.7 21,996 66.7
2001 20,865 77.7 2,064 64.3 450 71.4 1,623 86.7 231 96.3 24,178 76.9
2006 23,016 80.4 2,781 67.8 645 71.0 2,214 89.6 345 93.5 27,384 79.5
At least tertiary
1986 2,712 10.7 45 2.7 12 3.4 231 34.2 30 45.5 3,008 10.8
1991 3,427 12.7 81 3.4 30 6.0 324 30.3 39 39.4 3,849 12.6
1996 4,315 15.1 204 6.0 48 7.1 696 40.1 108 45.6 5,214 15.8
2001 4,922 18.3 312 9.7 84 13.3 738 39.4 120 50.0 5,971 19.0
2006 6,432 22.5 558 13.6 141 15.5 1,194 48.3 174 47.2 8,106 23.5

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 4,566 1,681 6,247 73.1 26.9
2003 4,513 1,638 6,151 73.4 26.6
2004 4,309 1,649 5,958 72.3 27.7
2005 3,929 1,432 5,361 73.3 26.7
2006 3,541 1,367 4,908 72.1 27.9
2007 3,141 1,304 4,445 70.7 29.3

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 7,689 15.9 1,065 26.3 192 27.4 297 24.4 36 37.5 9,015 17.0
1991 11,640 23.2 2,079 40.3 459 43.7 546 30.3 63 38.9 14,058 24.9
1996 11,526 22.7 2,346 35.7 543 41.2 1,068 39.2 141 40.9 14,205 24.7
2001 9,456 20.0 1,989 31.3 531 37.7 1,119 38.6 156 42.3 12,108 22.2
2006 8,691 17.2 1,962 24.3 486 27.2 1,251 32.3 165 27.1 11,388 19.1
Population with low incomes, by age
Year 0 - 14 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+ Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
1986 2,454 20.7 1,692 14.8 1,647 11.0 1,065 11.4 2,160 38.9 9,015 17.0
1991 3,600 29.8 2,943 25.0 2,712 16.3 1,818 18.5 2,988 49.9 14,058 24.9
1996 3,651 29.6 3,588 31.8 2,832 16.3 1,587 15.2 2,550 41.1 14,205 24.7
2001 3,444 28.6 2,553 28.1 2,499 15.6 1,521 13.7 2,088 33.7 12,108 22.2
2006 2,856 22.5 2,427 24.0 2,187 13.0 1,548 11.7 2,373 34.4 11,388 19.1
Population with low incomes, by sex
Year Male Female
Number % Number %
1986 3,687 14.3 5,328 19.4
1991 5,850 21.6 8,208 28.0
1996 5,964 21.6 8,244 27.5
2001 4,977 19.3 7,131 24.9
2006 4,893 17.2 6,495 20.8

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 4,641 8.6 1,452 28.6 309 33.1 342 24.7 39 28.9 6,648 10.8
1991 3,627 6.5 1,389 22.2 423 31.7 609 27.5 48 24.2 5,922 9.1
1996 3,185 5.6 1,543 18.6 613 33.0 728 20.7 80 17.9 5,515 8.1
2001 2,181 4.0 1,239 14.7 525 26.7 522 13.7 90 18.2 4,203 6.3
2006 2,112 3.8 1,482 14.6 714 29.2 645 13.5 129 16.8 4,542 6.5
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 1,170 13.2 729 13.7 2,610 18.8 1,479 8.5 576 5.5 78 1.4 6,648 10.8
1991 1,233 12.7 555 12.2 2,082 14.6 1,509 7.7 468 4.3 81 1.3 5,922 9.1
1996 1,308 13.0 506 11.1 1,630 11.5 1,551 7.6 435 3.7 85 1.3 5,515 8.1
2001 1,020 10.5 489 9.6 1,074 8.9 1,125 5.7 408 3.1 87 1.3 4,203 6.3
2006 1,050 10.6 450 9.0 1,311 10.3 1,152 5.9 486 3.2 90 1.2 4,542 6.5
Household crowding, by sex
Year Male Female
Number % Number %
1986 3,372 11.3 3,276 10.3
1991 2,922 9.3 3,003 8.9
1996 2,744 8.4 2,771 7.9
2001 2,040 6.4 2,160 6.2
2006 2,193 6.6 2,346 6.4

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 (%) 51.0 48.0 48.4 54.0 50.0 50.0 46.0

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 13 33.0 1 25.0 13 35.0 2 33.0 6 18.0 1 25.0
Women voted in 4 29.0 0 n/a 4 27.0 1 n/a 3 20.0 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 663 20.1 759 23.7 546 26.3 201 39.0 63 36.8 2,232 24.1
Total population 798 5.3 1,038 4.7 684 3.5 258 3.1 81 1.1 2,856 3.9
2001 Māori 693 19.9 789 26.0 555 26.1 198 33.7 72 36.9 2,304 24.4
Total population 813 5.3 1,074 5.6 741 3.8 261 2.7 105 1.3 2,994 4.2
2006 Māori 708 17.5 912 26.1 696 25.8 225 28.8 114 38.0 2,649 23.4
  Total population 783 5.1 1,125 5.6 870 4.3 306 2.8 153 1.7 3,234 4.3

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  (%) 25.9 25.3 77.4 76.7 55.6 55.8

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 115.8 119.5
2002 118.9 118.9
2003 117.2 101.6
2004 116.3 115.8
2005 111.7 115.5
2006/2007 20.7 99.2
2007/2008 105.9 105.9

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 160 213.3 5.3
2002 205 270.1 4.0
2003 176 228.3 2.6
2004 197 252.2 7.7
2005 225 287.0 1.3
2006 232 293.7 3.8
2007 212 269.0 7.6
2008 207 261.0 10.1

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 97.9 88.2 81.8 97.5 93.2 96.6 96.6 94.7 96.3 96.7 98.0 98.7 96.6
2001 98.3 92.2 87.1 97.7 99.4 97.2 97.5 96.4 96.7 97.5 98.3 98.6 97.4
2006 98.9 95.9 96.4 98.8 98.4 98.3 98.6 98.2 98.2 98.4 98.7 99.0 98.5
Internet access (%)
Year Ethnicity Sex Age Total
European Māori Pacific Asian Other Male Female 0 - 14 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+
2001 47.5 32.3 27.2 65.5 66.9 49.1 44.9 49.5 53.2 50.7 48.8 16.6 46.9
2006 69.7 52.2 44.5 76.0 77.4 68.9 66.6 71.4 68.2 72.1 72.4 39.1 67.7