This template is to supply uniform, up-to-date population data to New Zealand articles. It facilitates a mass update of all the population numbers in articles.

It is used for dynamically-changing populations. Populations on a specific date (e.g. the population of Christchurch at the time of 2010 Canterbury earthquake) should not use this template, but should instead be hard-coded manually into the article.

NOTE - New Auckland Council

"Auckland Region", "Waikato Region", "Waikato District" and "Hauraki District" use the new 1 November 2010 boundaries. For the older pre-November 2010 boundaries, use "[name] old" (i.e. "Auckland Region old")

Adding to an article

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{{NZ population data|Example city|y|y|y}}

The template has seven parameters:

  1. area = Statistics NZ name of area for population (e.g. Lower Hutt City). This parameter is mandatory if showpopulation is used. List of names here
  2. showpopulation = display the population figure
  3. showtitle = display the title (e.g. "June 2008 estimate")
  4. showref = display the reference for the current boundaries, can subsequently be reused by adding: <ref name="NZ_population_data"/>
  5. titlepre = free text before the title, for example to add parentheses
  6. titlepost = free text after the title
  7. aucklandref = For the pre-November 2010 Auckland boundaries, use this as reference instead of showref, can be reused by adding: <ref name="Auckland_population_data"/>

Leaving a show parameter empty results in that value being hidden.

The template data uses formatted text numbers, with the comma thousands separator, which is suitable for the majority of uses. For the numerical value, for example to use in {{Infobox Settlement}}, use the formula: {{formatnum:{{NZ population data| ##Example city## |y}}|R}}

Automatically updating formulae

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  • Population density: {{Decimals|{{formatnum:{{NZ population data| ##Example city## |y}}|R}}/ ##numerical land area## |1}}
  • Percent of national population: {{Decimals|{{formatnum:{{NZ population data| ##Example city## |y}}|R}}/{{formatnum:{{NZ population data|New Zealand|y}}|R}}*100|1}}

Annual update

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The data on this template needs to be updated once per year, as of 2008 Statistics NZ releases annual population estimates at the end of October.

  1. Download latest spreadsheet from Statistics New Zealand
  2. In a new spreadsheet, collect the data from all tables to get two columns, area name and most recent year data
  3. create a new column with formula =" | "&A1&" = "&B1 for first entry, copy down entire column. May need an adjustment to keep commas in the numbers
  4. copy & paste results into template
  5. update the name "June XXXX estimate"
  6. update the reference
  7. verify Statistics NZ names are consistent with "Show changes", affected articles need the new name
  8. verify everything is ok by looking at a sample of pages
  9. List of cities in New Zealand needs a check for rank changes, affected articles may need a minor reword