The data below is in a format known as tab-delimited values. You can open this file with any spreadsheet application and the data will be distributed into the appropriate rows and columns. Year Population 1878 458,007 1881 534,030 1886 620,451 1891 668,652 1896 743,214 1901 815,862 1906 936,309 1911 1,058,313 1916 1,149,225 1921 1,271,667 1926 1,403,640 1936 1,569,216 1945 1,698,996 1951 1,930,482 1956 2,162,907 1961 2,403,624 1966 2,659,305 1971 2,845,998 1976 3,103,266 1981 3,143,307 1986 3,263,283 1991 3,373,926 1996 3,618,303 2001 3,737,280 2006 4,027,947 2013 4,242,051 See the web-page for source information Downloaded from Te Ara | The Encyclopedia of New Zealand www.TeAra.govt.nz