A vibrant city centre

A central city that has strong connections to the Waikato River and has increasing levels of activity and investment compared to other business centres.

Retail spending

Retail spending has been increasing in Hamilton since 2009 from $1,270 Million to $1783 Million. This increase is largely driven by spending on food and liquor which has increased from $478 Million in 2009 to $696 Million in 2017. The biggest growth in retail spending since 2009 is fro​m people who live in the surrounding Waikato Region or outside of the Waikato.

Whilst spending in the Central City Zone marginally increased every year, the percentage of retail spending in the Central City Zone compared to the Business Zones throughout the City decreased from 44% in 2009 to 35% in 2016 and in 2017 is on the up with an increase to 36%.

Gross Domestic Profit (GDP)

GDP has been growing since 2005 to a high of $7910 Million in 2017. The percentage of GDP in the central city vs the rest of the city has remained relatively steady since 2005 (between 27%-31%).

Population

The population in Hamilton has increased from 131,980 in 2006 to 161,800 in 2017. The percentage of people living in the central city compared to the rest of the city has remained relatively unchanged since 2006 (approximately 2%).