West Coast Regional Council Community Profile

The Community Profile provides information about your local community.

Population

At the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings:

The usually resident population count for West Coast Region¹ Council was 31,329, a change of 3.4% since 2001.
In comparison, the population for New Zealand as a whole had increased by 7.8% since 2001.

	West Coast Region	New Zealand
Male	15,909	1,965,618
Female	15,417	2,062,329
Total	31,329	4,027,947
Change Since 2001 Census	1,026	290,670

¹The area used for this profile is based on Statistics New Zealand's regional council.

Age Profile

20.4% of people in West Coast Region Council were under the age of 15 years, compared with 21.5% for all of New Zealand.
13.8% of people in West Coast Region Council were age 65 years or over, compared with 12.3% for all of New Zealand.

	West Coast Region	New Zealand
0-14	20.4%	21.5%
15-64	65.7%	66.2%
65+	13.8%	12.3%

Ethnic groups (total responses)

At the 2006 census:

73.5% of people in West Coast Region Council said they belong to the European ethnic group, compared with 61.2% percent for all of New Zealand.

	West Coast Region	New Zealand
European	73.5%	61.2%
Maori	8.9%	13.3%
Pacific Peoples	0.9%	6.2%
Asian	1.1%	8.3%
MELAA¹	0.2%	0.8%
Other	15.4%	10.1%

¹People represented in MELAA include people of Middle Eastern, African and Latin American ethnicities.

Employment

At the 2006 Census:

The unemployment rate in West Coast Region was 2.2%, compared with 3.4% for all of New Zealand.
The most popular occupational group in the West Coast Region was Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing. The most popular occupational group for New Zealand as a whole was Manufacturing.

Income

At the 2006 Census:

The median income of people in West Coast Region Council is $20,400, compared with $24,400 for all of New Zealand.

	West Coast Region	New Zealand
$5,000 or Less	10.3%	12.1%
$5,001 - $10,000	8.5%	7.2%
$10,001 - $20,000	25.5%	19.5%
$20,001 - $30,000	14.4%	13.8%
$30,001 - $50,000	19.5%	21.1%
$50,001 or More	11.5%	16.2%
Not Stated	10.4%	10.2%

Households

At the 2006 Census:

The average household size in West Coast Region was 2.5 people, compared with 2.8 for all of New Zealand.
84.2% of households in West Coast Region Council had access to a telephone, compared with 87.8% for all of New Zealand.
60.1% of households in West Coast Region Council had access to a cellphone, compared with 71.1% for all of New Zealand.
47.7% of households in West Coast Region Council had access to a internet, compared with 58.0% for all of New Zealand.
87.9% of households in West Coast Region Council had access to a motor vehicle, compared with 88.1% for all of New Zealand.
There were 12,459 households in West Coast Region Council.
For dwellings that were rented, the average weekly rent paid for permanent private dwellings in West Coast Region Council was $144, compared with $225 for New Zealand as a whole.
71.4% of dwellings in West Coast Region were owned with or without a mortgage, compared with 68.9% for all of New Zealand.

Business

At the 2006 Census:

There were 2,859 businesses in West Coast Region compared with 354,087 for all of New Zealand.

The information in this profile is based on the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings, the 2001 Household Expenditure Survey and the New Zealand Business Demographic Statistics.

All population statistics are for the usually resident population count and have been randomly rounded to base three to preserve confidentiality.

Percentages have been calculated against complete responses; that is, they exclude cases where no answers were provided and have been calculated on the rounded data so do not always total 100%.