Migration a small plus to veteran Kiwis

New Zealand's population aged 65 years and over is projected to eclipse one million in the late 2020s.

Migrants will add little to NZ's aging population, says Statistics New Zealand.

Figures released by Statistics New Zealand predict an NZ population of over 5 million in the mid-2020s and 5.75 million in 2061.

Population growth will slow from current rates because of the narrowing gap between births and deaths. The number of deaths is expected to increase from 29,000 in 2009 to 40,000 in 2029, due to the number of people in older age groups.

Over the next 20 years, net migration is expected to remain a minor contributor to population growth compared with natural increases and the population aged 65 years and over (65+) is projected to eclipse 1 million in the late 2020s.

By the late 2020s those aged 65+ will comprise one in five New Zealanders and exceed the number of children aged under 15 years.

Currently, there are 550,000 people aged 65+ and 890,000 children. These trends largely reflect the higher fertility rates of the 1950s and 1960s, the much lower fertility rates since, and the continuing gains in life expectancy.

The population grew at an average of 1.2 percent a year between 2004 and 2009 and is expected to grow by 1.0 percent a year in the 2010s, 0.7 percent a year in the 2020s, and 0.5 percent a year in the 2030s.

Comments

[Domestic Executive]

You're back! Great to see you are still in the blogosphere.

[Alan]

Nice to see you back William.
Another way round in thinking on this, new migrants represent a growth in the number of people paying taxes. Hence a growth in the number of people supporting those Kiwi's on superannuation.
Despite what Winston Peter's may claim, inbound immigration is good for retired Kiwi's.

[Avalon]

Welcome back :) Good to see you blogging again :)

[William]

Why thanks. It's good to be back actually.