The Ngāpuhi iwi takiwa boundaries cover the middle far north district from South Hokianga through to Mangakāhia, across to the Bay of Islands to the south-western Whāngarei district. While this area is the ‘home’ of Ngāpuhi, 80% live in other parts of the country, mainly around the Auckland region, the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.

Living in the iwi takiwa is an important factor in native speakers of Te Reo Māori. Those who live there, particularly older Ngāpuhi, are more likely to be able to be native speakers or hold an everyday conversation in Te Reo Māori than Ngāpuhi who live elsewhere. Overall, 26% of Ngāpuhi are able to converse in Māori, similar to the total proportion of Māori at 25%.

Ngāpuhi has a young population base. 39% of Ngāpuhi Māori are under the age of 15, while the median age is approximately 21 years. The elderly (those aged 65 and over) make up 2.76% of the Ngāpuhi population.

More than half of Ngāpuhi over the age of 15 have a formal educational qualification. Like the rest of the Māori population, younger Ngāpuhi are more likely to be formally qualified than older ones, and it appears that the proportions of qualified young Ngāpuhi are increasing.

Ngāpuhi contribute nearly 62,835 adults (those aged over 15) to the labour force. The participation rate for men is higher at 74.5% than women at 63.2%.

* Information source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 and 2006