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Christchurch โ€” UN urban centre population

Modelled live estimate ยท UN 2025โ€“2026 annual growth
260,804
Recorded base: 260,804 ยท 2025 annual estimate

Christchurch has a recorded base population of 260,804 for the UN urban centre definition (2025 annual estimate). UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; the moving counter uses UN 2025โ€“2026 annual growth, not new population observations.

At a glance

Population definitionUN urban centre
Recorded population260,804
Country share4.90% of 5,324,700 (World Bank 2025)
World share0.003% of 8,215,424,893 (World Bank 2025)
Country database rank#2 of 7 UN urban centre records
World database rank#1663 of 5,233 UN urban centre records

Separate UN urban-centre definition

Christchurch UN urban centre: 260,804 people (2025), equal to the displayed UN urban centre figure of 260,804. Separate GeoNames settlement record: 419,200; the UN value is smaller (different boundaries; GeoNames population date unavailable). UN WUP 2025 Degree of Urbanisation; not a municipal/province boundary. Association: name/country/coordinates matched; boundary relationship unverified. No containment claim is made.

Administrative units of Christchurch

15 administrative records listed; completeness not established. 15 of 15 population values available; population values and dates not independently verified.

Available-value subtotal: 125,536; not a reconciled total. Shares use the displayed UN urban centre denominator 260,804; mixed/unknown dates are not comparable. An em dash means missing, not zero.

UnitPopulationShareMembership
Riccarton11,6504.47%Not independently verified
Parklands10,7604.13%Not independently verified
Avonhead10,2403.93%Not independently verified
Ilam10,1003.87%Not independently verified
Burnside9,8103.76%Not independently verified
Bryndwr9,7603.74%Not independently verified
Redwood8,5003.26%Not independently verified
Upper Riccarton7,9903.06%Not independently verified
Papanui7,9003.03%Not independently verified
Mairehau7,1202.73%Not independently verified
Somerfield7,0702.71%Not independently verified
Shirley6,9902.68%Not independently verified
Cashmere6,9402.66%Not independently verified
Merivale5,3602.06%Not independently verified
Addington5,3462.05%Not independently verified

Comparable database records

Same definition label: UN urban centre. Dates/boundaries may still differ; this is not a harmonised international city ranking. Ratios use 260,804 as denominator.

PlacePopulationvs Christchurch
Novi Sad262,324+0.6%
Ulan-Ude262,433+0.6%
New Orleans258,413โˆ’0.9%
Wuzhong258,383โˆ’0.9%
Ensenada258,104โˆ’1.0%

About these numbers

Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025. Reference: 2025 annual estimate. Live method: exponential projection from modelling anchor 2025-01-01 using UN 2025โ€“2026 annual growth (+0.14% per year). This anchor is a modelling convention, not an observed population date. Tiles, ranks and comparisons use the recorded base figure 260,804, not the ticking estimate. Country/world denominators are World Bank values and can differ in date and method from local/UN values. Ranks cover only records with the same definition label in this database, not all cities in the world.

Harmonised UN urban-centre ranking ยท Embed

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Urban and administrative population explained โ†’

Interpretation reviewed 12 October 2026. Underlying reference years are stated on the page; this is not a fresh census or dataset refresh.