Business growth 4.5pc

The number of New Zealand businesses grew by 4.5 per cent in the year to February, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Nelson City had the largest increase in the number of businesses for the year, up 6.2 per cent.

The city of Upper Hutt, which had the smallest number of businesses at 2203, grew by just 4.4 per cent.

However, that outstripped Wellington's growth of 2.8 per cent to 19,272 businesses.

The Auckland region, where about 32 per cent of New Zealanders live, houses 114,428 businesses, or one in three of the country's total. That was followed by Canterbury (38,710) and Wellington (38,020).

The region with the smallest number of businesses was the West Coast, with 2458, followed by Gisborne (2891).