Snapshot of a great small city | He tirohaka o te tāone

Different age groups/demographics will have different housing needs to be planned for.

Dunedin's total population over time

• Dunedin’s population of 130,480 in 2018 is projected to grow to 141,606 in 2048.

Dunedin's age groups over time

• In 2018, 36% of Dunedin’s population is aged 25 and under, compared to 34% of NZ’s population.
• A 7% increase in Dunedin’s 65 years and over population is projected by 2048.
• A 6% decrease in the 45 – 64 age group is projected by 2048.

Dunedin's ethnicity make up over time

• Dunedin’s population is becoming more diverse, and by 2038 Māori, Asian and Pacific people are projected to increase by 5%, 7% and 1% respectively.

Dunedin residents’ top five reasons for a high quality of life: Health and Wellbeing, Relationships, Financial Situation, Lifestyle, and Work.

Dunedin’s youth are far more likely to experience stress and loneliness than any other age groups.

• 85% of residents say they have a good quality of life
• 72% of residents say they have pride in the look and feel of the city

Highest qualification for Dunedin resident over time

• The number of Dunedin residents with no qualification has declined by 4.8% from 2006 to 2018 and has also declined by 9.4% for Māori residents

The number of NCEA level 3 or higher education achievers has increased by 6.9% from 2006 to 2018.

Highest qualification for Dunedin Māori over time

Dunedin residents in full time study vs New Zealand

• 27.4% of Dunedin residents were in full-time study in 2018, more than the NZ average of 21.3%.

Dunedin residents rate their general health highly, but Māori residents are less likely to rate their general health as highly as the average resident.

• 85% of residents rate their general health highly
• 72% of residents  rate their general health highly

Dunedin is New Zealand’s first UNESCO City of Literature. The city has three Marae, and many other locations of significance to Mana Whenua. There are 740 protected historic buildings.

Dunedin residents born overseas – country of origin

• Dunedin’s population consists of 2% Australian, 6.1% Britain and 1.4% North American born residents compared to NZ’s overall population consisting of 1.6%, 5.9% and 0.9% respectively.
• Dunedin has resettled 550 former refugees since 2016 with a majority coming from Palestine, Syria, and Afghanistan.

Major Religions

• Just over half of Dunedin residents now no longer identify with an organised religion (40.4% in 2016 vs 56% in 2018).
• Christianity remains Dunedin’s largest religious identity (32.5% in 2018), however Dunedin is also home to followers of Buddhism (0.8%), Hinduism (0.9%), Islam (1%), Judaism (0.1%) and traditional Māori beliefs (0.2%).

Dunedin’s pre-Covid-19 economic growth was exceeding the New Zealand average. The number of  people seeking unemployment support has been reducing over the past decade.

Unemployment rates have shown a decline from 8.1% in the first quarter of 2010 to 5.4% in the last quarter of 2019.

Dunedin's major employment industries 2019

• Employment in manufacturing has decreased from 9.2% in 2009 to 6% in 2019. Employment in construction has increased from 7% in 2009 to 9% in 2019.
• Retail (10.1%), Education and Training (13.5%), and Health Care and Social Assistance (14.9%) continue to be the highest employment industries in 2019.

Dunedin average house price over time

• There has been a recent sharp increase in Dunedin’s housing prices. Average house price in 2010 was $276,048 versus an average in 2020 of $552,297.
• While housing affordability has been a growing issue, Dunedin house prices are still lower (25%) than the NZ average.

Dunedin's number and value of new residential buildings over time

• There is an estimated need of 750 new domestic dwellings required to accommodate the city’s estimated annual population growth.
• Over the past 10 years, there has been an average of 372 new dwellings in Dunedin.

11% of Dunedin city’s land is protected under conservation value, equalling to roughly 36,000 hectares.

Dunedin has 30 native plants and species that are not found anywhere else in the world.

The entire Dunedin City area is Wahi Tupuna (ancestral landscape) as it was used and valued by mana whenua. Wahi Tupuna sites include settlements, battle sites, burial places, mahika kai areas and resources, trails and significant landscape features such as peaks.

Dunedin has the world’s only mainland albatross colony

Dunedin is home to some of New Zealand’s major penguin and seal colonies

In June 2019, Dunedin City Council declared a climate emergency for Dunedin with a goal of making Dunedin city net carbon neutral by 2030.

A variety of changes in temperature, rainfall and sea level rise will impact the city and natural environment in different ways that need to be prepared for.

• Dunedin produced roughly 1.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018/19.
• Approximately 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions are being sequestered through local forestry and native reserves.
• Considering sequestration, Dunedin’s total net emissions for 2018/19 is roughly 1.2 million tonnes.

Dunedin's emissions change 2015 to 2019

South Dunedin is a vibrant and diverse community that over 10,000 people call home. It is flat and conveniently located, and home to many businesses, schools and critical infrastructure that residents and the wider city rely on. South Dunedin was built on land reclaimed from a coastal wetland. This means that groundwater is already close to the surface and makes it hard for water to drain away when it rains.

South Dunedin has nearly 2700 homes that lie less than 50cm above the mean spring high tide mark – more than anywhere else in New Zealand – and over 70% are less than half that elevation.

• By 2090, low lying areas of Dunedin will experience at least 0.5 metres of sea level rise
• By 2090, Dunedin will see a 5 to 13 percent increase in yearly rainfall

Māori population
Source: Stats NZ, 2018 Census

In 2018, 11,730 people living in Dunedin identified as Māori

• 9.3% of people in Dunedin identify as Māori  vs 16.5% of people in NZ identify as Māori
• 11% of people in Dunedin are of Māori descent  vs 18.5% of all people in NZ are of Māori descent

Dunedin’s Māori population is younger than Dunedin’s population overall

• 29.5%  of Māori people are aged less than 15 years  vs 15.4%  of all Dunedin people
• 4.6%  of Māori people are 65 years and over  vs 16.3%  of all Dunedin people

Dunedin population by median age (total vs Māori)

• Median age for Māori people in Dunedin - 21.8 years
• Median age for all of Dunedin - 37 years

Māori cultural wellbeing
Source: Te Kupenga, Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa 2018 (Otago/Southland)

• 63.7% of Māori took part in the care of Māori sites of significance, with their whānau, in the last 12 months
• 35.4% of Māori took part in caring for the health of the environment, with whānau, in the last 12 months
• 21%  know Marae Tupuna
• 69.5%  been to Marae Tupuna in the previous 12 months
• 67.7%  would like to have been to Marae Tupuna more often in the previous 12 months

Contact with non-resident whānau

• 66.3% of Māori think they have the right amount of contact with whānau
• 31.3% of Māori think they don't have enough contact with whānau
• 81.9%  have face-to-face contact with non- resident whānau
• 95.8%  have non-face-to- face contact with non- resident whānau

Māori educational achievement
Source: Stats NZ, 2018 Census

• 57.2% of Māori in Dunedin have attained a qualification at level 3 and higher

Māori economic wellbeing
Source: Stats NZ, 2018 Census

Māori people in Dunedin work in a variety of occupations

Māori social wellbeing
Source: 2018 Quality of Life Survey

Pāsifika population
2Source: Stats NZ, 2018 Census

4,026 people living in Dunedin in 2018 identified as Pāsifika

• 3%  of people in Dunedin identify as Pāsifika  vs  8%  of people in New Zealand identify as Pāsifika
• 4.6%  of Pāsifika people are 65 years and over  vs  16.3%  of all Dunedin people

Dunedin’s Pāsifika population is younger than Dunedin’s population overall

• 29.3%  of Pāsifika people are aged less than 15 years  vs  15.4%  of all Dunedin people

Dunedin population by median age (total vs Pāsifika)

• Median age for Pāsifika people in Dunedin - 21 years
• Median age for all of Dunedin - 37 years

Pāsifika educational achievement
Source: Stats NZ, 2018 Census

56.4% of Pāsifika in Dunedin have attained a qualification at level 3 and higher

Pāsifika economic wellbeing
Source: Stats NZ, 2018 Census