Living in Northland

Article Index
Living in Northland
Climate
Economy
Cost of Living
Housing
Education
General Information

Economy

About 68,400 employees work for over 12,600 businesses, with Northland's gross regional product of $3.4 billion annually representing about 3% of New Zealand’s total gross domestic product.

Offering lifestyle and workstyle, Northland is attracting new investment and industry development. This growth complements a solid industry base of pastoral farming, horticulture, forestry and wood processing, and tourism. Other key sectors are floriculture, organics and the arts.

Approximately half of the Northland regional economy is generated in the Whangarei District, with steady economic growth in recent years. The leading growth industries are agriculture, forestry and fishing, property and business services and education. New Zealand's newest deepwater port is located at Marsden Point, just south of Whangarei.

Overall, Northland has an expanding population. Unemployment in the region was 5 per cent as at August 2006. It is especially concentrated among those without formal qualifications.

Safety

New Zealand, Northland and Northland District Health Board’s hospitals are all safe environments by any overseas standards.

There is good exterior lighting around the hospital campuses night, and security assistance is readily available on request. The predominant forms of personal violence occur in domestic contexts; stranger danger is at a low level although not unknown. Basic domestic security precautions (such as deadlocks on doors and window stays where windows are left open or a burglar alarm) are recommended.

New Zealand is a very low risk country in terms of terrorism, with an incredibly small likelihood of attack when compared with most other countries around the world.

New Zealand is also a very safe country in terms of natural predators, with virtually no natural predators posing a risk to humans. There are no snakes, crocodiles, or big cat predators.