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Population with low incomes

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

This image is a visual representation of the data for this indicator. See the table below this image for the information.


Region Income less than 60% of national median (2001)
1986 1991 1996 2001 2006
1 Northland 23.9 38.9 35.6 30.2 25.2
2 Auckland 15.0 22.1 20.4 18.2 15.6
3 Waikato 20.3 28.4 25.5 22.4 18.8
4 Bay of Plenty 20.0 32.1 27.7 24.7 21.1
5 Gisborne 24.1 35.4 33.3 30.1 24.7
6 Hawke's Bay 20.8 30.9 29.1 24.6 20.4
7 Taranaki 19.1 28.8 25.7 23.9 19.7
8 Manawatu-Whanganui 21.3 30.3 29.2 25.6 22.6
9 Wellington 13.2 19.1 18.7 15.8 14.1
10 Tasman 25.7 33.3 28.4 24.0 20.3
11 Nelson 16.4 26.1 24.2 23.0 19.0
12 Marlborough 23.7 30.2 25.9 21.5 18.0
13 West Coast 25.0 36.2 32.8 30.6 24.9
14 Canterbury 19.7 27.7 24.1 21.2 18.2
15 Otago 21.2 30.0 27.7 23.9 20.7
16 Southland 20.3 29.0 25.5 22.0 19.4

Population with low incomes, by ethnicity, 2006

Region European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Northland 19,470 22.4 9,909 33.9 798 33.0 624 32.2 78 25.5 27,420 25.2
Auckland 71,268 10.7 18,951 19.6 24,774 23.1 48,579 27.4 3,894 27.9 154,653 15.6
Waikato 40,572 16.5 13,842 26.2 2,169 27.3 4,353 32.8 645 36.0 55,749 18.8
Bay of Plenty 29,388 18.4 13,635 29.4 1,245 29.1 1,608 29.5 150 23.0 41,556 21.1
Gisborne 3,984 19.0 4,440 33.5 309 35.5 111 18.9 15 20.0 7,869 24.7
Hawke's Bay 17,067 18.1 6,573 29.3 1,047 34.3 732 31.2 102 27.9 23,064 20.4
Taranaki 13,509 18.8 3,075 28.4 231 26.5 345 22.9 42 21.2 15,771 19.7
Manawatu-Whanganui 31,524 21.2 8,682 29.7 1,167 30.7 1,896 32.4 240 27.6 39,273 22.6
Wellington 35,688 12.1 8,601 21.0 4,734 21.3 6,126 21.2 1,386 34.7 51,153 14.1
Tasman 6,984 20.1 555 23.5 54 22.0 114 30.2 21 25.0 7,395 20.3
Nelson 5,874 18.3 693 26.3 111 24.5 207 26.7 15 11.6 6,522 19.0
Marlborough 5,529 17.6 702 21.5 111 28.5 90 21.0 36 32.4 6,048 18.0
West Coast 5,544 24.6 621 28.7 48 25.4 51 21.8 21 38.9 5,961 24.9
Canterbury 63,951 16.6 6,171 22.2 1,734 24.1 8,355 39.0 804 30.7 77,196 18.2
Otago 27,888 19.7 2,208 23.8 540 25.8 2,088 39.6 276 28.8 31,599 20.7
Southland 12,873 18.9 1,947 24.7 282 26.6 183 21.6 12 10.5 14,202 19.4

Population with low incomes, by age, 2006

Region 0 - 14 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+ Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Northland 8,151 31.7 1,983 18.5 5,061 19.1 5,964 20.1 6,261 39.0 27,420 25.2
Auckland 43,380 19.9 22,122 16.4 34,113 11.0 25,299 11.1 29,739 30.5 154,653 15.6
Waikato 15,435 22.5 6,270 16.7 10,284 12.8 10,071 13.8 13,689 36.9 55,749 18.8
Bay of Plenty 11,835 25.9 3,402 16.4 7,689 15.1 7,653 15.2 10,974 37.1 41,556 21.1
Gisborne 2,766 32.6 750 21.5 1,629 20.0 1,332 17.0 1,392 35.9 7,869 24.7
Hawke's Bay 6,807 26.0 1,866 15.6 4,269 14.6 4,128 13.9 5,991 37.4 23,064 20.4
Taranaki 4,116 23.0 1,254 14.2 2,874 13.6 2,913 14.0 4,614 39.9 15,771 19.7
Manawatu-Whanganui 10,572 27.3 4,563 21.0 7,242 16.2 7,119 16.4 9,780 39.4 39,273 22.6
Wellington 13,059 17.2 7,455 15.6 9,999 9.0 8,574 9.9 12,063 29.6 51,153 14.1
Tasman 1,899 23.2 447 13.1 1,398 14.7 1,737 16.7 1,908 39.2 7,395 20.3
Nelson 1,560 23.1 603 15.1 1,239 13.3 1,284 13.6 1,836 37.7 6,522 19.0
Marlborough 1,344 20.5 345 10.7 1,014 11.7 1,338 13.5 2,007 37.9 6,048 18.0
West Coast 1,338 26.8 363 15.9 1,152 17.8 1,458 21.0 1,653 50.8 5,961 24.9
Canterbury 17,220 19.9 9,420 17.6 13,977 11.6 14,460 13.4 22,125 38.8 77,196 18.2
Otago 5,847 20.3 7,017 30.4 5,034 12.1 5,391 13.9 8,316 40.0 31,599 20.7
Southland 3,621 22.4 1,245 14.8 2,544 12.7 2,682 14.2 4,113 41.6 14,202 19.4

Population with low incomes, by sex, 2006

Region Male Female
Number % Number %
Northland 12,837 24.0 14,583 26.4
Auckland 70,413 14.6 84,240 16.6
Waikato 25,200 17.3 30,549 20.2
Bay of Plenty 18,633 19.4 22,923 22.6
Gisborne 3,552 22.9 4,317 26.4
Hawke's Bay 10,188 18.6 12,876 22.0
Taranaki 7,104 18.0 8,664 21.3
Manawatu-Whanganui 17,589 20.9 21,684 24.3
Wellington 23,028 13.1 28,128 15.1
Tasman 3,462 19.1 3,933 21.5
Nelson 2,898 17.3 3,624 20.5
Marlborough 2,763 16.5 3,282 19.4
West Coast 2,859 23.5 3,105 26.3
Canterbury 34,728 16.7 42,468 19.5
Otago 14,259 19.0 17,343 22.2
Southland 6,366 17.4 7,839 21.3