Ruapehu District Mayor Weston Kirton disputes census figures showing that the district lost more than 3000 people in the past five years.
The figures show that Ruapehu had the biggest percentage fall in the country - down 17.5 per cent to 15,111.
At the 1996 census, Ruapehu's population was 18,327.
Mr Kirton said the figures were wrong and he would ask the Government Statistician to check the numbers.
He said the district had shed only 1600 people - because of flooding, soldiers on duty in East Timor, the closure of freezing works, poor ski seasons and a drift away from rural areas.
In contrast, the Auckland region's population continued to surge. Just over 30 per cent of the country's people live in the region.
One of the fastest-growing areas was the Tauranga coastal region.
Population rose 16.1 per cent in this sector of Western Bay of Plenty.
The fastest-growing region nationally was Tasman. Its population rose 10.9 per cent, or 4356, to a total of 44,394.
Another fast-growing area was the Queenstown-Lakes district, up 27.1 per cent.
In contesting the figures for Ruapehu, Mr Kirton admitted that his area had suffered. "It is still a significant drop. There's no doubt about that," he said.
"It's pretty typical of rural New Zealand."
Mr Kirton said Ruapehu hoped to halt the decline by encouraging new business, tourism and more dairying.
"I think we can stabilise the population in the next year or two, if not increase it."
New Zealand's total population in the March 6 census was up 3 per cent, or 111,108 people, to 3,792,654.
The statistics are provisional and final counts should be available by the end of the year.
- NZPA
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