Refer to the current geographies boundaries table for a list of all current geographies and recent updates.
This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released ward boundaries as at 1 January 2025, as defined by the territorial authorities and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ. This version contains 224 wards, excluding ‘area outside ward’.
Wards are defined under the Local Electoral Act 2001 and result from dividing a territorial authority for electoral purposes. Wards were originally set up within any territorial authority with a population of at least 20,000. The ward system was designed to allow for the recognition of communities within a territorial authority and to increase community involvement in the local government system.
Territorial authorities can now choose whether they would like to maintain electoral wards. As a result, the number of wards has steadily decreased since they were first created in 1989. Ward boundaries are reviewed in the year before the three-yearly local government elections.
Wards are defined at meshblock level, and do not coincide with the statistical area 1 (SA1), statistical area 2 (SA2), or statistical area 3 (SA3) geographies.
Numbering
Wards are numbered based on their corresponding territorial authority. Each ward has a unique five-digit number. The first three digits represent the territorial authority that the ward lies within. The following two digits are sequential and represent the number of wards within a territorial authority. For example, Westland District (057) has three wards, which are coded 05701, 05702, and 05703.
Some territorial authorities do not use wards. In the classification, these territorial authorities use ‘99’ for the last two digits of the ward code, and the descriptor “Area Outside Ward”.
High-definition version
This high definition (HD) version is the most detailed geometry, suitable for use in GIS for geometric analysis operations and for the computation of areas, centroids and other metrics. The HD version is aligned to the LINZ cadastre.
Macrons
Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.
Digital data
Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.
Further information
To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā
For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.
Contact: geography@stats.govt.nz
