The undersupply of housing may be far worse in many provincial centres than it is in Auckland, according to the latest census figures released by Statistics NZ.

The figures show that between the 2013 and 2018 censuses this country's usually resident population increased by 10.8%, while the total number of dwellings (occupied and unoccupied) increased by just 6.2%.

Population growth outstripped dwelling growth by a considerable margin in all regions of the country except the West Coast, which had a decline in population (see table below for the full regional breakdown).

In percentage terms the regions the regions with the greatest population growth were Northland +18.1%, Bay of Plenty +15.2% and Waikato +13.5%, while those regions recorded dwelling growth of just 8.1%, 8.1% and 7.9% respectively.

In terms of the numbers of people in each region, Auckland had the greatest increase with its normally resident population growing by 156,168 (+11.0%) between the two censuses, while the total number of dwellings in the region increased by just 6.5% over the same period.

In the Wellington Region the population increased by 7.5% while the number of dwellings increased by just 4.5% and in Canterbury the population was up 11.2% while dwellings were up 6.9%.

However, the disparity between population and dwelling growth was greatest in many provincial regions such as Marlborough, where the population grew by 9.0% but the dwelling count was up by just 1.1% and Gisborne where the population grew by 8.9% but dwellings were up by just 2.8%.

The figures suggest that while the shortage of housing may be greatest in Auckland in terms of absolute numbers, regional centres may be facing even greater pressure in terms of the changing balance between supply and demand.

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Regional Population* and Dwelling* Counts - Change from 2013 Census to 2018 Census Region 2018 Population Count % Change from 2013 2018 Dwelling Count % Change from 20132 Northland 179,076 18.1 79,392 8.1 Auckland 1,571,718 11.0 538,182 6.5 Waikato 458,202 13.5 195,468 7.9 Bay of Plenty 308,499 15.2 125,880 8.1 Gisborne 47,517 8.9 18,435 2.8 Hawkes Bay 166,368 10.0 66,120 3.4 Taranaki 117,561 7.3 49,503 5.2 Manawatu-Whanganui 238,797 7.2 102,000 3.1 Wellington Region 506,814 7.5 200,979 4.5 Tasman 52,389 11.1 23,001 8.0 Nelson 50,880 9.6 21,213 6.0 Marlborough 47,340 9.0 22,149 1.1 West Coast 31,575 -1.8 16,842 3.2 Canterbury 599,694 11.2 251,532 6.9 Otago 225,186 11.2 101,091 8.4 Southland 97,467 4.4 43,836 3.3 Total NZ 4,699,089 10.8 1,885,626 6.2 *Usually resident population *Occupied & unoccupied dwellings