Tauranga and Whakatane have been New Zealand's fastest growing towns over the past 80 years, as Kiwis followed the sun to the country's sunniest places.
A long-term analysis by economists from the Motu consulting group and Auckland University has found that sunshine hours were one of four main factors driving the growth and decline of 56 NZ towns from 1926 to 2006, along with the quality of the local agricultural land, local educational levels and proximity to the country's biggest city, Auckland.
Auckland itself was only the eighth-fastest-growing town over the 80 years, but it grew much faster than the three others of what were the four main centres in 1926 (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin), so its faster growth helped to pull up other towns in the northern North Island.
All but one of the 10 fastest-growing towns were in the upper North Island. Levin, also a sunny spot just north of Wellington, was the sole exception.
Whakatane, with 2704 sunshine hours last year, is officially New Zealand's sunshine capital. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) lists Blenheim as the sunniest of 27 other towns that it tracks, with an average 2475 sunshine hours a year between 1981 and 2010, followed by Nelson (2472), Lake Tekapo (2417) and Tauranga (2345).
