NZ regions have to adapt or face a ‘fairly dismal future’

• An expert in population growth has issued a dire warning to New Zealand’s rural regions, saying if they don’t adapt they face a “dismal future”.

According to Massey University professor Paul Spoonley, whose areas of expertise include demography and social migration, two thirds of New Zealand’s regions will suffer population stagnation or decline within the the next 10 years.

In an interview on Radio New Zealand, Spoonley said provincial New Zealand’s growth will drop while Auckland’s continues to boom.

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Professor Paul Spoonley warns that, unless comprehensive measures are taken, New Zealand’s provinces will continue to stagnate rather than grow.