Average age of planted production forest in New Zealand
By territorial authority, as at 1 April 2025, years
| Territorial authority | Years |
|---|---|
| Far North | 17.6 |
| Whangārei | 17.8 |
| Kaipara | 14.6 |
| Auckland | 22.2 |
| Thames-Coromandel | 19.3 |
| Hauraki | 24.7 |
| Waikato | 19.5 |
| Matamata-Piako | 21.7 |
| Hamilton | 28.3 |
| Tauranga | 30.3 |
| Western Bay of Plenty | 18.7 |
| Rotorua | 18.2 |
| Kawerau | 7.5 |
| Whakatāne | 15.9 |
| Ōpōtiki | 18 |
| Waipā | 23.8 |
| Ōtorohanga | 20.8 |
| Waitomo | 23.2 |
| Ruapehu | 17.3 |
| South Waikato | 17.9 |
| Taupō | 15.5 |
| Gisborne | 18.9 |
| Wairoa | 15.1 |
| Hastings | 13.3 |
| Napier | 13.7 |
| Central Hawke's Bay | 15.9 |
| New Plymouth | 27 |
| Stratford | 21.7 |
| South Taranaki | 22.9 |
| Whanganui | 25.2 |
| Rangitīkei | 26.3 |
| Manawatū | 24.8 |
| Kāpiti Coast | 28.2 |
| Upper Hutt | 28.5 |
| Porirua | 33.1 |
| Wellington | 29.2 |
| Lower Hutt | 37.4 |
| Palmerston North | 20.7 |
| Tararua | 19.6 |
| Masterton | 19.7 |
| Horowhenua | 23.8 |
| Carterton | 21.3 |
| South Wairarapa | 20.8 |
| Nelson | 17.3 |
| Tasman | 18.5 |
| Marlborough | 20.5 |
| Kaikōura | 17.5 |
| Hurunui | 21.8 |
| Waimakariri | 26.4 |
| Christchurch | 27.3 |
| Selwyn | 23.3 |
| Ashburton | 25.5 |
| Timaru | 23.5 |
| Mackenzie | 28.8 |
| Waimate | 23.7 |
| Buller | 18.6 |
| Grey | 20.7 |
| Westland | 20.9 |
| Waitaki | 19.2 |
| Dunedin | 18.2 |
| Queenstown-Lakes | 36.8 |
| Central Otago | 26.4 |
| Clutha | 20 |
| Gore | 25.6 |
| Southland | 20.6 |
| Invercargill | 20.1 |
Definitions
Afforestation: The planting of trees for the primary purpose of producing wood or wood fibre, on land that has not previously been used for growing planted production forests.
Forest area: Net stocked planted production forest area.
Net stocked forest area: The planted production forest area occupied by trees, excluding mappable gaps such as landings, roads and other unstocked areas.
For more information
Data provided by
Ministry for Primary Industries
Dataset name
National Exotic Forest Description 2025
Webpage:
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/news-and-resources/open-data-and-forecasting/forestry/new-zealands-forests/
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'National Exotic Forest Description 2025' > 'Download the 2025 NEFD tables [XLSX, 100 KB]'.
Some sheets were combined by Figure.NZ for processing purposes.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: National Exotic Forest Description 2025
From the dataset National Exotic Forest Description 2025, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: Table 5
- Range:
C7:E93 - Provided: 201 data points
This data forms the table Forestry - Planted production forest by standing area, volume, age, and territorial authority 2025.
Dataset originally released on:
December 18, 2025
About this dataset
The National Exotic Forest Description (NEFD) provides a detailed description of New Zealand’s planted production forest to help with resource policy planning and industry development.
Purpose of collection
To maintain an authoritative, high quality database of New Zealand’s production forests.
Method of collection/Data provider
The NEFD surveys known forest owners and managers with at least 40 hectares of planted exotic production forest. The survey is run on a two-yearly cycle, where all known forest owners with 40 or more hectares of forest are surveyed one year (census), and the next year only owners with more than 1,000 hectares (sample).