More people, more babies - that's what the official number crunchers at Statistics New Zealand say about the increase in births in Northland.
Latest figures released by Statistics New Zealand this week showed of the 2310 births in Northland last year, Whangarei recorded 1182 births, Far North 798, and Kaipara 267.
The 2310 births compare to 2124 in 2016, and 2049 throughout Northland the previous year.
There were 59,610 births registered throughout the country in 2017.
Whangarei mum Melissa Wendt said new people settling in Northland and having babies was good for the region.
"It seems like a lot of them became pregnant the same time as me around September or October last year and some of them would have been new to Northland."
Ms Wendt has a 4-month boy, Lucas, and a 4-year-old stepdaughter, Ivy.
"It's good to meet new mothers and perhaps start a coffee group. I know of people I went to school with in Whangarei who went for their OEs then came back home with their partners and started families."
Ms Wendt said population growth and more babies born were positive news for Northland except when it came to the housing market.
About 4000 people made Northland home between 2016 and 2017— the highest ever increase.
Northland's estimated population at the end of June last year was 175,400.
Northland and Tasman were the only regions that recorded an increase in births every year since 2015.
Naomi Facey had her first baby last year after she moved from Waikato to Russell in 2016.
She said an increase in births was reflective of population growth in Northland with people moving from other regions as well as from overseas.
Stats NZ senior demographer Kim Dunstan said birth numbers in Northland each year have been holding steady around 2200 that reflected the trend seen throughout New Zealand with about 60,000 newly born annually.
He said together with an increase in new births, population has also been shooting upwards in recent years.
Mr Dunstan said population growth in Northland could have contributed to an increase in births.
He said apart from an increase in new births, the number of deaths in Northland has also risen from 1365 in 2016 to 1374 last year.