UPfront Business is booming

The number of New Zealand business locations has increased on average by 4.5 percent in the past year, according to recently released business demography statistics.
Areas running ahead of the overall average include the Queenstown-Lakes District where business locations increased by more than three times the national average (13.8 percent), followed by Western Bay of Plenty (10.7 percent), Hurunui (9.5 percent), Kaikoura (9.0 percent), Tasman (8.8 percent), Otorohanga (8.6 percent), Waitomo (7.4 percent) and Central Otago (7.3 percent). Top growing regions were Tasman, Nelson, Otago, and Bay of Plenty.
The number of businesses in the Auckland region grew by 5.2 percent, also ahead of the average and they accounted for 40 percent of all 14,090 new business locations recorded in the past year.
Auckland boasts nearly twice as many business locations (51,070) as its nearest rival Christchurch. One in every three New Zealand businesses can be found in the Auckland region.
A business enterprise may have more than one location and the Statistics New Zealand figures don’t include farming businesses.