The first data from last year’s nationwide Census is now in, and it paints a picture of how the Queenstown Lakes district population is changing.

It’s no surprise the district’s population has grown, but it’s notable we have not been growing as fast as in some previous years.

The Queenstown Lakes population in 2023 was 47,808, a 22.1 percent increase from the previous Census year of 2018 (which had a population of 39,153) - and a 69 percent increase since 2013. 

However, the rate of growth was lower than the increase between 2013 and 2018 when the population grew by 38.7 percent (from 28,224 to 39,153).

The growth rate still makes Queenstown Lakes the second fastest growing territorial authority in the country (behind Selwyn at 29 percent).

There are 25,734 dwellings in the district - an increase of 26.1 percent on 2018.

The makeup of the population is also changing: we are getting more diverse.

Those who identify as European still make up the majority of the population (82.8 percent) but that has dropped from 87.5 percent in 2013.

The next largest demographic is those who identify as Asian (10.5 percent); then Maori (6.4 percent); Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African (5.3 percent); and Pacific peoples (1.5 percent). The combined figure does not add up to 100% as some people identify with more than one ethnicity.

The median age of people living in Queenstown Lakes has increased from 34.4 years old in 2018 to 35.5 years old in 2023. 

Those aged 30-39 years make up 22.3 percent of the population, up from 18.6 percent in 2013; and those aged over 60 make up 16.8 percent. 

Data from the Wānaka Ward will not become available until August 2025.

PHOTO: Wānaka App