Living in Canterbury

The Canterbury region is located on the East Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, with Christchurch – New Zealand’s most English-style city as its largest city. Canterbury is noted for its sport with, its most famous team being is the Canterbury Crusaders rugby team, however the land and climate are such that anyone can get involved in the sport of their choice – from skiing to fishing, cricket to golf, and every sport in between. Geographically, Canterbury is truly diverse, with the lush, fertile Canterbury plains, Southern Alps, and stunning rivers, beaches and lakes all within easy reach of Christchurch.

Canterbury statistics

Climate

• Mean daily maximum temperature: Jan 22.5 °C, July 11.3 °C
• Mean Daily minimum: Jan 12.2°C, July 1.9°C
• Average of 85 rain days per year
• Average annual rainfall: 648 mm

Population

• New Zealand’s total population is 4,027,947
• 521,832 people usually live in the Canterbury Region of which 348,435 (67%) live in Christchurch±.
• Out of 16 regions in New Zealand, Canterbury is the second largest consisting of 13.0% of the country’s entire 4,027,947 population.
• About 6.5 percent of New Zealand's Maori population live in the Canterbury region.
• The median age is 37.6 years compared to median age for New Zealand at 35.9 years.

Employment

• 72.5% of Cantabrians are employed on a full time basis
• 23.6% are employed on a part time basis
• 4% are unemployed

± www.stats.govt.nz