A real estate expert says he believes official figures are severely underestimating potential population growth next year.
In an interview with the NZZ, Hans Holdener from the Helvetica Property Group, says he believes the population will grow by 148,000 next year - far higher than the official figures of 70,000.
He says the main driver will be jobs as employment grows by 2%.
But also, many Ukrainian refugees are now entering the official figures after a year of living in the country.
He warns home building is not keeping up with the growth and says 100,000 new apartments will be needed.