Auckland DHB, in terms of total budget, is the largest district health board in the country with annual revenue of approximately $1.3 billion dollars.  This funding is associated with the provision of local, regional and national health services.  The Auckland DHB has the same boundaries as the Auckland City Council and is responsible for the same population.  Auckland city has approximately 10 percent of the total population of New Zealand making Auckland DHB the fourth largest DHB in the country in terms of population size.

We need to plan and be organised now for the health needs we will face in 2010.  Understanding the structure of the population, trends and changes over time is an important starting point for this work.  The population in 2004 was estimated at 420,700 and is growing rapidly.  By 2011 it is estimated that there will be 460,000 people living in Auckland City.

What Is Our Population Made Up Of?

The ethnic composition of the population is project to change over time, with growth expected in the proportion of Asian peoples in the population, and a reduction in the proportion of European peoples.

Auckland DHB population age?

Seventy percent of people in the Auckland DHB area are working age adults (15-64 years).  Maori and Pacific peoples have a very young population and around one-third aged under 15 years, and fewer then 5 percent aged 65 years and older.

Although Auckland City has an aging population, the growth over the next ten years is likely to be in the 40-64 year age group.  during the period 2001-2016 it is likely that:

• the percentage of under 15 years olds will decrease
• the percentage of 15-39 year olds will decrease
• the greatest percentage of the population will be aged 40-65 years
• the percentage of those aged 65 years and over will remain relatively constant

Auckland DHB population deprivation?

The New Zealand deprivation index reflects aspects of material and social deprivation.  The index estimates an overall score of deprivation for an area and shows the percentage of people in Auckland City living in each deprivation index decile.  The scale ranges from 1 (least deprived ) to 10 (most deprived).  across New Zealand ten percent of people live in each decile.

In 2001 a high percentage of Maori and Pacific people lived in the most deprived areas.  Sixty five percent of pacific peoples and about fifty percent of Maori live in deciles 8-10, compared with thirty four percent of Asian peoples and nineteen percent of Europeans.