Annual Boundaries Data

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released statistical area 1 (SA1) boundaries concorded to higher geographies for 2022 as defined by Stats NZ. This version contains 29,913 SA1s including 16 with empty or null geometries (non-digitised SA1s).

This SA1 higher geographies 2022 file is a correspondence, or concordance, which relates SA1s to larger geographic areas or 'higher geographies'. The higher geographies contained in this concordance are: regional council (REGC2022), statistical area 2 (SA22022), territorial authority (TA2022), urban rural (UR2022), urban rural indicator (IUR2022), and urban accessibility indicator (IUA2022). The following geographies were introduced in 2018: statistical area 1 (SA1), statistical area 2 (SA2), urban rural (UR), and urban rural indicator (IUR) as part of the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18) which replaced the 1992 New Zealand Standard Areas Classification (NZSAC92). The urban accessibility indicator (IUA), which measures the degree of urban influence New Zealand's urban areas have on surrounding rural areas, was first added to this correspondence in 2021.

Higher geography names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons, as applicable. Column names for those without macrons are suffixed ‘ascii’. For further information on individual higher geographies, refer to each geography’s metadata.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

This dataset is the definitive set of meshblock boundaries for 2014 as defined by Statistics NZ.

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Statistics NZ maintains an annual meshblock patternfor the collection and production of statistical data, allowing data to be compared over time. A meshblock is the smallest geographic unit for which statistical data is collected and processed by Statistics NZ. A meshblock is defined by a geographic area, which can vary in size from part of a city block to a large area of rural land. Each meshblock abuts against another to form a network covering all of New Zealand, including coasts and inlets and extending out to the 200 mile economic zone. Meshblocks are added together to build up larger geographic areas such as area units and urban areas. They are also used to define electoral districts, territorial authorities and regional councils.

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As at 1st July 2007, Digital Boundary data became freely available.

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This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released urban rural boundaries for 2022, as defined by Stats NZ (the custodian), clipped to the coastline. This clipped version has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries. This version contains 668 urban rural features.

The urban rural geography was introduced as part of the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18) which replaced the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification (NZSAC92). The urban rural geography replaces the (NZSAC92) urban area geography. Urban rural is an output geography that classifies New Zealand into areas that share common urban or rural characteristics and is used to disseminate a broad range of Stats NZ’s social, demographic and economic statistics.

The urban rural indicator complements the urban rural geography and is an attribute in this dataset. Further information on the urban rural indicator is available on the Stats NZ classification and coding tool ARIA.

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released boundries of local boards for Auckland and territorial authorities for the rest of New Zealand for 2022, as defined by the territorial authorities and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian), clipped to the coastline.

This clipped version has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries. This version contains 21 local boards in the Auckland Council and 66 territorial authority boundaries for the rest New Zealand.

For statistical outputs that use territorial authorities to aggregate and report data Auckland Council is treated as a single geographic entity. This can hide meaningful patterns and trends for a significant portion of the population. A solution was to create a new classification of territorial authorities that includes the local boards for Auckland. The Auckland Council was established in 2010 under the Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Act 2009. Seven territorial authorities within the Auckland Region were abolished and replaced by the unitary authority Auckland Council. Local boards fall within the community board classification.

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released regional council Māori constituency boundaries for 2022 as defined by the regional councils and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). This clipped version has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries. This version contains 5 Māori Constituencies, excluding area outside constituency and contains 20 features.

Māori constituencies are established under the Local Electoral Act 2001 and result from the division of a region for electoral purposes. Māori constituencies are divisions of regional council areas. They are created, based on population, to be the voting areas within councils. Māori constituencies are defined at meshblock level. If a regional council decides to have a Māori constituency, the constituencies within the council are known as general constituencies and Māori constituencies.

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released (territorial authority) subdivision boundaries for 2022, as defined by the territorial authorities and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian), clipped to the coastline. This clipped version has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.. This version contains 79 subdivisions, excluding area outside subdivision with a total of 145 features.

Subdivisions are set up under the Local Government Act 2002 and Local Electoral Act 2001. A subdivision is a division of a community or local board area for electoral purposes. Subdivisions are defined at meshblock level, and do not coincide with the statistical area 1 (SA1) geography or the statistical area 2 (SA2) geography. A number of territorial authorities do not have subdivisions, and if they do, the subdivisions do not necessarily cover the whole territorial authority area. Subdivisions nest within community or local boards. Where a community or local board is divided into subdivisions all of the community or local board area must be included in a subdivision.

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released (territorial authority) subdivision boundaries for 2022, as defined by the territorial authorities and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). This version contains 79 subdivisions, excluding area outside subdivision with a total of 145 features.

Subdivisions are set up under the Local Government Act 2002 and Local Electoral Act 2001. A subdivision is a division of a community or local board area for electoral purposes. Subdivisions are defined at meshblock level, and do not coincide with the statistical area 1 (SA1) geography or the statistical area 2 (SA2) geography. A number of territorial authorities do not have subdivisions, and if they do, the subdivisions do not necessarily cover the whole territorial authority area. Subdivisions nest within community or local boards. Where a community or local board is divided into subdivisions all of the community or local board area must be included in a subdivision.

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released statistical area 1 (SA1) boundaries for 2022, as defined by Stats NZ (the custodian), clipped to the coastline. This clipped version has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries. This version contains 29,698 SA1 features.

SA1s were introduced as part of the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18) which replaced the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification (NZSAC92). SA1 is an output geography that allows the release of more detailed information about population characteristics than is available at the meshblock level.

Built by joining meshblocks, SA1s have an ideal size range of 100–200 residents, and a maximum population of about 500. This is to minimise suppression of population data in multivariate statistics tables. SA1s either define or aggregate to define SA2s, urban rural areas, territorial authorities, and regional councils. Some SA1s that contain apartment blocks, retirement villages, and large non-residential facilities have more than 500 residents.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

The SA1 classification can also be downloaded from the Stats NZ classification and concordance tool Ariā.

The functional urban area (FUA) classification identifies small urban areas and rural areas that are integrated with major, large, and medium urban areas to create FUAs. This dataset is clipped to the coastline. This clipped version has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.

Workplace address and usual residence address data from the 2018 Census of Population and Dwellings were used to identify satellite urban areas (1,000–4,999 residents), and rural statistical area 1s (SA1s) from which at least 40 percent of workers commuted to urban areas with more than 5,000 residents.

An FUA includes Urban rural (UR) 2018 urban areas, rural settlements and rural SA1s where there is: an urban core, one or more secondary urban cores, one or more satellite urban areas, and rural hinterland (rural settlements or rural SA1s).

The FUA indicator (IFUA) classifies UR2018 urban areas and rural SA1s according to their character within their FUA, e.g., urban core, satellite urban area. The information from the Stats NZ classification can be accessed using the classification tool Ariā.

The 53 FUAs are classified by population size. The urban core’s population rather than the entire FUA’s population is used to maintain consistency between the descriptions of UR2018 urban area and FUA type (TFUA).

FUAs that have more than 100,000 residents living in their urban core are known as metropolitan areas, while smaller FUAs are divided into large (core population 30,000–99,999), medium (core population 10,000–29,999), and small regional centres (core population 5,000–9,999).

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

For more detail, and classifications, please refer to Ariā.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

The functional urban area (FUA) classification identifies small urban areas and rural areas that are integrated with major, large, and medium urban areas to create FUAs.

Workplace address and usual residence address data from the 2018 Census of Population and Dwellings were used to identify satellite urban areas (1,000–4,999 residents), and rural statistical area 1s (SA1s) from which at least 40 percent of workers commuted to urban areas with more than 5,000 residents.

An FUA includes Urban rural (UR) 2018 urban areas, rural settlements and rural SA1s where there is: an urban core, one or more secondary urban cores, one or more satellite urban areas, and rural hinterland (rural settlements or rural SA1s).

The FUA indicator (IFUA) classifies UR2018 urban areas and rural SA1s according to their character within their FUA, e.g., urban core, satellite urban area. The information from the Stats NZ classification can be accessed using the classification tool Ariā.

The 53 FUAs are classified by population size. The urban core’s population rather than the entire FUA’s population is used to maintain consistency between the descriptions of UR2018 urban area and FUA type (TFUA).

FUAs that have more than 100,000 residents living in their urban core are known as metropolitan areas, while smaller FUAs are divided into large (core population 30,000–99,999), medium (core population 10,000–29,999), and small regional centres (core population 5,000–9,999).

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

For more detail, and classifications, please refer to Ariā.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.