- People like the lifestyle they have in Greater Christchurch, with 86.4 percent of people rating their quality of life as good or higher – above the national average of 84 percent.
- People are also generally well, with 85 percent of people rating their health as good or very good.
- Most people are managing to make ends meet, with 83 percent of people in Greater Christchurch saying they have at least enough money to cover their financial needs, 4 percent above the national average.
- However, there are groups who live in Greater Christchurch who are not doing as well as others:
- Those with lower incomes
- People with a disability or long-term health condition
- Those who identify as Māori or Pasifika
- Young adults
Greater Christchurch performs relatively better than the country overall, Auckland and Greater Wellington in terms of housing quality and affordability, congestion, and the perceptions of safety. We have a relatively smaller proportion of our people living in low deprivation areas. However, we still have 8 percent of our people living in highly deprived areas.
Our average incomes are generally lower and, overall, our adult population does not have the same level of qualifications as the populations of Auckland and Wellington.
People in Greater Christchurch value their access to the natural environment, but, like the rest of New Zealand, we have some significant challenges protecting our natural environment from pollution.