Auckland - a city of opportunity - your city

A vibrant South Pacific city of 1,200,000 people, perched within glistening harbours, surrounded by lush forests and subtropical islands. Auckland, City of Sails, offers an incomparable lifestyle, unique within New Zealand and the world.

Auckland is regularly voted one of the best lifestyle cities in the world. Your on-the-water experience in the City of Sails could be as thrilling as a race on board a grand prix racing yacht, or as laid-back as a ferry cruise to one of the dozen idyllic islands. Built on an isthmus of 48 volcanoes, Auckland's fertile valleys and islands are home to award-winning wineries. Family attractions abound and the city has plenty of adrenaline for adventure lovers. Indulge in Auckland's shopping, nightlife and unrivaled cuisine. Auckland is one of the best places in the world to live.

Auckland number 5 in world for lifestyle

Auckland and Wellington are among the top 12 places in the world to live, according to an annual ranking of the world's cities by quality of living.

Mercer's annual Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, covering 215 cities, helps governments and multinational companies place employees on international assignments.

Each city is ranked based on 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport and other public services.

Cities are compared with New York, which has a base index score of 100.

Zurich was ranked the best city to live in, while Baghdad was the worst.

Auckland and Wellington both moved up the rankings this year. Auckland went from eighth last year to fifth, on a score of 107.3, and Wellington moved up from 14th to 12th with a score of 105.8.

The moves were mainly due to strong internal stability relative to other cities.

 
Auckland economy

Auckland city’s economy grew by 5.4 per cent over the year ended March 2003. This rate was well ahead of the national growth rate of 4.7 per cent. In the year to March 2004, the city is estimated to have grown by about 4 per cent, which is slightly above the national growth rate of 3.6 per cent.

Economic growth in Auckland city is likely to ease slightly between 2004 and 2005 to about 4 per cent per annum, which is slightly higher than the national rate of growth.

Over the past six years Auckland city’s employment growth has averaged 3.3% per annum. The property and business services sector has shown the strongest growth over this period (6.0 per cent per annum) followed by the education sector (4.3 per cent per annum) and accommodation, cafes and restaurants (4.1 per cent per annum).

Currently, the labour market is tight with firms having difficulty finding skilled and unskilled labour, and the city’s unemployment rate falling to 4.1 per cent in March 2004. Wages in Auckland city have risen faster than wage inflation in the Auckland region and New Zealand as a whole over the past 12 months.

Auckland lifestyle

Auckland is ranked 5th best city in the world in an international survey ranking the world's cities for their "quality of life". The survey, commissioned by Mercer Human Resource Consulting found Auckland rated highly in terms of recreational opportunities, from restaurants to sports activities. The city scored well on housing, based on the attractiveness of rental houses and apartments. There were also plenty of quality appliances and furniture.

New Zealand cities rated higher than overseas cities because of the country's political stability, personal freedom, hospital services, availability of consumer goods, climate and the accessibility of sports and leisure activities.

Auckland itself is 50 miles across in any given direction, and encapsulates the best of the 'Old World' - galleries, museums and excellent coffee houses.

While Auckland and Sydney rated about the same on the quality of the survey, Sydney was considerably more expensive. Regional growth figures released yesterday show Auckland had 4.6 per cent growth in the last calendar year, boosted by real estate sales and economic optimism.

New Zealand has first class education, health, and many other public services. Education, skills training, science and research are getting an especially high priority because of the critical role they play in high value economic growth. Creative people - artists, performers, writers, musicians and designers, are making a significant contribution to the economy.

New Zealand is a rapidly changing and developing nation, learning and applying that which is the best form from the old world, but avoiding the pitfalls and continuously seeking ways to improve its lifestyle.

New Zealanders' believe in all sincerity, that it is the finest and safest country on the face of the globe to bring up young families.

We look forward to you joining us.

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