Food prices fell 0.8 per cent last month, with vegetables leading the charge. Food prices have now fallen 0.6 per cent over the past year.

There's been a surprisingly big jump in building activity, with the biggest quarterly gain in the past ten years, driven by construction work in Canterbury and the upper North Island.

New Zealand chalked up its third monthly trade deficit in October, with the annual deficit widening to $1.37 billion.

Exporters' lobby group calls for increasing population through immigration and developing bigger companies.

Aging baby boomers are pushing numbers of those aged 65 and over to unprecedented levels, adding to the financial pressure on the rest of the population.

New Zealand's population will reach 4,444,444 tomorrow, according to Government population numbers.

More people means more bums on seats - enriching and expanding the arts, sport and media, writes Toby Manhire. "Who honestly can say they feel crowded anywhere in NZ?"

A support organisation for migrant parents in Auckland is experiencing a baby boom because of a surge in the number of dragon babies born to Chinese parents.

New Zealand will have more than five million people by 2031 – with almost 2 million living in Auckland, according to Statistics New Zealand projections.

The economy is growing faster than many were predicting, with GDP up 0.6 per cent in the three months to June.

Computer systems design jobs have surged by nearly 80 per cent since 2000.