Population aged 50 and older

IBISWorld forecasts the population aged 50 and older to increase by 1.5% in 2025-26, to a total of 1,873,892 people. Growth in this demographic has been supported by advancements in healthcare and medical technology, which is improving the life expectancy of New Zealand residents. Additionally, rising health consciousnesses suggests New Zealanders are increasingly looking after their health and wellbeing, contributing to rising life expectancy.

Growth in the population aged 50 and over has risen at a faster pace than the overall population over the past five years. The proportion of the overall population in this age group is expected to reach 34.6% in 2025-26, up from 33.8% in 2019-20. This trend is indicative of New Zealand's expanding life expectancy, meaning people are remaining in this demographic for longer.

The over 50 population has expanded slightly due to positive aggregate net migration over the past five years. New Zealand's net migration is expected to reach over 200,000 people between 2020-21 and 2025-26, a figure that includes pandemic-impacted years of negative net migration in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Since 2022-23, New Zealand's net migration has remained positive. However, as most migrants are from younger age groups, the effects of net migration on the size of the population aged 50 and older has been limited. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts the population aged 50 and over to increase at a compound annual rate of 1.4% over the five years through 2025-26.