09 August 2006

New Zealand's good living best found in Auckland

Fresh from seeing their city recognised as one of the best places in the world to live and work in, Auckland residents enjoy New Zealand's highest standard of living according to a new government survey.

The 2006 Social Report compiled by the Ministry of Social Development found that out of 27 social and economic factors used to gauge development, Auckland came either top or second for 12 of them.

Amongst the findings were:

• Aucklanders earn an average of NZ$17.40 an hour, above the national average of NZ$16.10.
• Life expectancy for men is the highest in the country at 77.5 years, whilst for women it's the second highest at 82.2 years.
• The proportion of its population living in poverty (18.2%) is only slightly bettered by Wellington.
• The highest percentage of people aged 18 to 64 with at least upper secondary level education - 81.2 %.
• At 46.3 % (2001 figures), Aucklanders have better internet access that anywhere else in the country.
• Auckland's drinking water is only bettered by Nelson.
• Only Wellington has seen fewer workplace injury claims that Auckland (119 for every 1,000 full time workers).
• It has the second lowest smoking rate (19.2%) in New Zealand.

On the negative side though, Aucklanders have the second lowest percentage of working-age population in paid work (71.2%), whilst they also score amongst the two worst regions for household overcrowding and the proportion of children aged 5 to 17 doing at least 2 1/2 hours of sport or other physical activity in the past week (64 per cent).

None of the negatives are extreme though and the results are released just three months after Auckland was announced as the 5th best city in the world by the annual World-wide Quality of Living Survey undertaken by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

Mercer's rankings were based on 39 criteria such as political, social, environmental, personal safety, health, education and public services.

Anyone who is interested in emigrating to New Zealand should visit the New Zealand Visa Bureau web site and complete the Online Assessment to see if they meet the basic requirements.