Times are tough on the West Coast as the population heads for greener pastures.

Everything is changing on the West Coast as it slowly backs away from the once prosperous mines which extracted wealth from its rugged mountains.



As the jobs go by their hundreds, so do the region's residents.



Figures released by Statistics NZ on Thursday show of New Zealand's 16 regions, the West Coast was the only one with a decreasing population.



It is a downwards trend that exists nowhere else in the country, and has persisted for some time.



As the jobs go by their hundreds, so do the region's residents.



Today on the Coast, there are fewer kids than at any point in the last 10 years.



The number of people aged under 40 is dropping steadily, and the population as a whole has not budged since 2008.



"I'm actually quite shocked it's not a lot worse," Grey district mayor Tony Kokshoorn said.



Things had been "extremely tough" on the Coast since about the Pike River mine disaster in 2010.



The region was pivoting from its long-held flirtation with mining to explore the greener pastures of agriculture and tourism.

"We've worked really hard to move from extractive to sustainable industry in the last five years, and that is working for us. Albeit we have lost a huge number of mining jobs," Kokshoorn said.

Tallying those job losses was a grim task.

There were 184 jobs in Stockton last year, followed by another 151 in May. At the OceanaGold mine in Reefton, nearly 300 jobs had gone since June last year. At a cement plant in Cape Foulwind, 120 jobs were expected to go.

All up, Kokshoorn estimated 1500 mining-related jobs had gone since about 2010.

"I'm heartened [the decrease] is only that low, because we've worked very hard and we are turning our economy around slowly but surely."

SARAH-JANE O'CONNOR/FAIRFAX NZ Grey District mayor Tony Kokshoorn has been called 'the miners' mayor'.

Union organiser Garth Elliott, who represents many of the region's miners, said the job situation meant many were leaving for good.

"Ultimately, a lot of [miners] are forced to move out of the district and find jobs where there are jobs. There certainly aren't a lot about on the West Coast."

He expected mining to come back to the Coast eventually, but whether people would return with them was less clear.

"People might think twice about coming back for the mines, if they've got comfortable jobs elsewhere. That's always a risk."

THE STRUGGLING DISTRICT

Nowhere was the waning population more stark than in the Buller district, the northern part of the West Coast.

The population dropped 2.1 per cent this year, by far the biggest decline of the country's 67 territorial authorities.

Attempts to lure people to Westport, Buller's main centre, received mixed results.

The 'Move to Westport' campaign earlier this year was a last ditch attempt to put people in homes on the Coast.

"For a market that has been severely depressed for the better part of two years, it created a little bit of impetus," Property Brokers spokesman Charlie Elley said.

For his company, the campaign had worked - for a few months at least.

It had sold about a dozen homes, largely to retirees.

Retirees, it seemed, were the future for the West Coast.

Over the six years the population remained static, as the miners were leaving, the number of retirement aged residents increased almost 20 per cent.

It was an obvious phenomenon, Elley said. He planned to kickstart the 'Move to Westport' campaign again soon, promoting success stories of those who had moved.

"Today I was with a gentleman and his brand new 2015 Jaguar. He moved from the North Island, has a near new home, money in the bank, and the car of his dreams.

"It's a win-win for everybody."

BY THE NUMBERS:

- The West Coast was the only region in the country to have a population decrease this year, losing 0.4 per cent.

- The regions with the highest growth were Auckland and Canterbury, with 2.9 and 2.1 per cent growth respectively.

- Of the country's 67 territorial authorities, Buller district on the West Coast declined the most, losing 2.1 per cent of its population.

- Selwyn district experienced the highest growth (6.5 per cent) followed by Queenstown-Lakes (4.9 per cent) and Waimakariri (3.6 per cent)