Statistics New Zealand marks World Population Day

World Population Day this Sunday, 11 July is coinciding with Statistics New
Zealand gearing up for the 2011 Census – the largest census ever held in
New Zealand.


Applications for census area managers and community liaison staff have just
closed, and the search for 420 district supervisors will begin in
September.


General Manager 2011 Census Carol Slappendel says Statistics New Zealand
will also be recruiting more than 6000 collectors later this year.


“The size of the workforce reflects how huge the census exercise is, and
its importance to New Zealand.”


New Zealand’s population is expected to exceed 4.4 million next year and
reach 5 million by the late 2020s. The United Nations Population Fund
organises World Population Day to promote the importance of good
demographic data to countries’ progress.


“The five-yearly census will involve everyone who is in New Zealand on
census day”, says Carol Slappendel. “Information obtained from the census
is critical to New Zealand having accurate population data, which is used
for planning schools, health services and transport systems, for designing
policies based on future population projections and much more.”


Quick Facts:

New Zealand’s population is expected to exceed 4.4 million in 2011

The global population is nearly seven billion – it is currently
approximately 6,855,000,000

Census data has been collected in some form in New Zealand for over 150
years

The 33rd Census of Population and Dwellings will take place on Tuesday,
8 March 2011. It is the official count of how many people and dwellings
there are in New Zealand.