Explore data and insights of Murihiku Southland

An all-in-one platform providing vital data and insights to help you navigate Murihiku Southland’s economic, environmental, and social trends.

Population Estimate (2023)

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Key Indicators

12% of Aotearoa New Zealand’s land mass
(2nd largest region in Aotearoa New Zealand)

Murihiku Southland Regional Factsheet
November 2024

58% of land is public
conservation estate

Southernmost Dark Sky in the world

GDP per capita $83,620 (5th highest in New Zealand)

Unemployment rate 3.7%

5 of New Zealand’s 11 Great Walks

3,612 kms of coastline

12% of New Zealand’s pastoral
exports produced

GDP $8.84 billion

2.3% of New Zealand’s homes (2023 census)

3,405 farms

Current Population 103,800
2% of New Zealand’s population (Stats NZ, June 2024)

  • Despite perceptions, Invercargill receives less rain than either Auckland or Wellington!

  • At around 120 years old, Henry the Tuatara is Waihōpai Invercargill’s oldest living resident and one of its most famous.

  • In 2019, Stewart Island was officially recognised as the world’s fifth International Dark Sky Sanctuary.

  • Invercargill is home to the world’s Southernmost, and New Zealand's first, indoor Velodrome, SIT Zero Fees Velodrome

  • Early European settlement in Southland was dominated by Scots and the softly rolled ‘r’s of local residents - New Zealand’s only regional accent.

  • David Strang, based in Waihōpai Invercargill, invented what is thought to be the very first instant coffee product in the world

  • The Tākitimu Mountains represent the upturned hull of the waka commanded by Chief Tamatea that was wrecked at Te Waewae Bay.

  • New Zealand’s first dairy factory was established at Edendale in 1882. Now, Edendale is the site of the world’s largest raw milk-processing plant.

  • Fiordland is home to some of the highest waterfalls in New Zealand. Browne Falls (836m), Terror Falls (740m) and Sutherland Falls (540m) .

  • The flightless takahē was presumed extinct for nearly 50 years but was famously rediscovered in 1948 by Geoffery Orbell in the remote Murchison Mountains in Fiordland National Park.

  • Lake Te Anau has the largest volume of fresh water of any lake in Australasia. The lake contains 47,672,300 cubic metres of water, or 83,891,519,966 pints of beer!  .

  • Seriously Good Chocolate Company is the Southernmost chocolate factory in the world.

  • Lake Hauroko is the deepest lake in New Zealand at 466 metres deep, 18 metres deeper than the 2nd deepest – Lake Manapouri (444 metres deep)

  • Foveaux Strait is one of the oldest commercial fisheries in New Zealand, and the iconic Bluff oyster has been harvested here for over 100 years.

  • Southland is the only place in the world that has a specific species of mayfly, which is why the Brown trout can be found here. The Mataura River is New Zealand's most fished brown trout river.

  • Ernest Robert Godward, based in Invercargill, invented and patented an eggbeater that prepared eggs for a sponge cake in three and a half minutes - previously, it had taken 15 minutes.

  • Southland is home to New Zealand's only commercial low orbit satellite ground station, where data is downloaded from satellites and spacecraft are commanded.

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Environment

Environment
Wellbeing

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