Population issues are events and processes occurring within the population which have substantial demographic, social, economic or environmental implications.
Two examples of major population issues are:
- population ageing
- New Zealand’s high levels of internal migration and international travel and migration.
The Population and Sustainable Development Report 2003 provides a comprehensive appraisal of the various population dynamics occurring within New Zealand. The report identified several key themes linked to important population issues. Among these themes are the following:
- New Zealand will continue to have a small population, which represents both opportunities and limits for the economy, society, and environment
- the workforce will take on an older profile in future, along with the older profile of the population
- the opportunities, attitudes, skills, and knowledge of New Zealanders will be a key determinant of our development path and future prosperity
- the proportion of the population made up of younger people will continue to decrease in the short to medium-term, after which the population will take on a stable older profile
- the increased number of births of the early 1990s will reach late adolescence between 2005 and 2010
- skilled workers are becoming increasingly mobile internationally, which has the potential to become a serious constraint on New Zealand’s economic development
- by international standards, New Zealand has high levels of inward and outward migration relative to the size of its resident population
- growing population diversity will heighten the demand for customised services from both the private and public sectors
- patterns of settlement are changing.