Demographics
Whanganui District covers 2,373.27 km2 (916.32 sq mi) [1] and had an estimated population of 48,400 as of June 2021, [2] with a population density of 20 people per km2. All but some 6,100 people in the Whanganui District live in the city itself, meaning there are few prominent outlying settlements. A small but notable village is Jerusalem.
Historical population| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|
| 2006 | 42,636 | — |
|---|
| 2013 | 42,153 | −0.16% |
|---|
| 2018 | 45,309 | +1.45% |
|---|
| Source: [4] |
Whanganui District had a population of 45,309 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 3,156 people (7.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 2,673 people (6.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 18,057 households. There were 21,912 males and 23,397 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.94 males per female. The median age was 43.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 8,937 people (19.7%) aged under 15 years, 7,692 (17.0%) aged 15 to 29, 19,371 (42.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 9,309 (20.5%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 79.2% European/Pākehā, 26.3% Māori, 3.6% Pacific peoples, 4.1% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 12.3, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 48.3% had no religion, 37.3% were Christian, 0.6% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 5.0% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 5,130 (14.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 8,427 (23.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $24,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 3,300 people (9.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 15,159 (41.7%) people were employed full-time, 5,406 (14.9%) were part-time, and 1,866 (5.1%) were unemployed. [4]
