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Warning

This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

Population Growth

The following statistical summary shows the steady population growth since 1860:

1860 2,611
1864 4,107 (one-third of these in Napier)
1874 9,228 (3,514 in Napier)
1886 24,770 (Napier, 7,677; Hastings, 1,504; Waipawa, 531; Ormondville, 422; Wairoa, 419; Dannevirke, 393)
1911 48,546
1956 102,326
1961 114,470 (Napier, 32,716; Hastings, 32,490)

Thus, of the present total population of the province, more than half are resident in the twin urban areas of Napier and Hastings. Populations of outlying provincial boroughs in 1961 were: Dannevirke, 5,508; Wairoa, 4,403; and Waipukurau, 1,714. A heavy inward migration from other parts of the Dominion was evident from 1880 until 1921, followed by a net loss of people in the two decades 1920–40, with a steady inward movement again since 1945.

Co-creator
George Jobberns, C.B.E., M.A., D.SC., Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Canterbury.