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Auckland is on track to become home to two million people by 2033 with Franklin leading the charge, recent data reveals.
“The Auckland population has doubled in size since the early 1980s, reaching 1.82 million in June 2025,” Clare Hendra from Stats NZ says. “The population is projected to reach two million people in 2033, though this milestone could be reached earlier or later, depending on levels of migration.”
The population of all Auckland local board areas is projected to increase between 2023 and 2053. However, the Franklin Local Board area is projected to experience the largest population growth in the region, up by 77,200 people to 165,100 in 2053 (medium projection).
Franklin is also expected to grow the fastest, with the population estimated to increase by an average of 2.1 per cent per year over the next 30 years.
Populations in Papakura (as well as the Rodney and Upper Harbour local board areas) are also expected to grow much faster than the overall Auckland average of 1.1 per cent per year.
Auckland has experienced net internal migration loss in recent decades, but this has been offset by net international migration gain.
“Through much of the 20th century, Auckland gained people from other parts of New Zealand as part of the ‘drift north’,” Hendra explains. “However, by the late 1990s, Auckland was losing more people to other parts of the country than it was gaining.”
The 2023 Census showed that 43 per cent of Auckland’s population was born overseas, compared with 22 per cent across New Zealand.
“The proportion of Aucklanders born overseas highlights the significant role that international migration plays in the region’s population growth,” Hendra says.
While this level of growth may seem high, it could be greater.
“Future population growth in Auckland is unlikely to be as fast because of population ageing, though Auckland is still projected to account for 40 to 50 percent of New Zealand’s total population growth over the next few decades.”
See www.stats.govt.nz for more information.
