Many of the Bay's retirement developments had waiting lists and Western Bay of Plenty District Mayor Ross Paterson said the region's councils were ready to welcome more arrivals.
"These Census figures just cement what we already know and what we are already planning for," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
"We expect the figures to continue growing, which is why people are seeing retirement villages popping up in Tauranga, Bethlehem and Katikati.
"Councils are supportive of this type of development which will continue to increase in the Bay over the coming years."
Bethlehem Shores and Bethlehem Country Club sales manager Liz Turner said older people moved to Tauranga for a safe, relaxed lifestyle by the sea.
"We have a waiting list for people that want to purchase a home at Bethlehem Country Club," she said.
"Being close to family and in a central location like Tauranga is another attraction. We are so close to many key centres like Auckland and Hamilton and it doesn't take long to get anywhere. The Bay offers a slower paced, more relaxed lifestyle."
Mr Paterson said councils were looking at extending and adding more walking and cycling tracks to provide an enticing environment for older people keen to move to the Bay. "They may be over 65 but a lot of the older people coming here are still very energetic and they enjoy walking and riding. We want to embrace them and make the Bay as welcoming for them as possible," he said.
The figures also showed women were outlasting men with more than 16,600 women over 65 living in the district and not quite 14,000 men.
Total population figures also showed Tauranga and the Western Bay grew by 8.8 per cent to 158,484.
The data also revealed the number of smokers in the Bay of Plenty had dropped more than 20 per cent since 2006.
The 2013 Census showed there was a 22.8 per cent decrease in the total number of regular smokers in Bay of Plenty since the previous Census in 2006, a result in line with a 22.9 per cent fall nationally.
In 2006, 23.6 per cent of adults in the region were regular smokers. By last year that had dropped to 17.4 per cent, Census statistics manager Gareth Meech said.
Among people aged 15-19, the change was particularly significant.
Bay of Plenty had 1809 fewer regular smokers in this age group than it did in 2006 - a decrease of 46.2 per cent.
Also in line with national trends, the number of people who identified with a religion had dropped since 2006.
In 2013, 7.7 per cent fewer people indicated a religious affiliation, and there was a 25.1 per cent increase in the number of people who checked the 'no religion' box.
In 2013, the largest iwi for Bay of Plenty people of Maori descent was the Te Arawa grouping, with 17,043 people, followed by Tuhoe, with 11,127 people.
