AI Job Atlas
AI & jobs · Regional Council in New Zealand

Canterbury

Regional Council NZ-CAN Largest city: Christchurch
36%
of jobs here are estimated to be exposed to generative AI, below the national 36% (−0.6 pts).
MODEL6th of 24 regions135K exposed workers

Key numbers

PopulationWIKIDATA
698K
as of 2025
Share of national populationWIKIDATA
13.1%
2nd largest of 24
People in workMODEL
377K
national total × population share
Highest-exposure jobsMODEL
6.8%
national 7.0%
Area
45.8K km²
15 people per km²
Settlement patternMODEL
Mixed
60% live in major cities
Largest city
Christchurch
363K (metro)
Mapped towns & cities
5
Natural Earth places

AI use

ANTHROPIC

Claude.ai conversations, April–May 2026.

Usage intensityANTHROPIC
0.86×
usage share ÷ population share
Share of national useANTHROPIC
11.2%
13.1% of population
Work-relatedANTHROPIC
39%
national 44%
Automation-styleANTHROPIC
46%
national 46%
Augmentation 54%Automation 46%

Sector mix

MODEL

Estimated share of jobs by sector, against the national mix.

Canterbury New Zealand
Retail & wholesale 13.3%
Health & care 13.1%
Business services 10.9%
Construction 10.6%
Education 10.0%
Manufacturing 8.7%
Agriculture 6.4%
Other services 5.4%
Public admin 5.2%
Hospitality 4.9%
Transport & logistics 4.5%
ICT & software 3.2%
Finance 2.4%
Utilities 1.1%
Mining 0.3%

Exposed workers by sector

MODEL
Health & care 21.8K Business services 18.7K Retail & wholesale 18.4K Education 18K Public admin 9,944 Manufacturing 8,336 Construction 7,548 Other services 6,724

Ranking in New Zealand

MODEL

By modelled AI exposure, out of 24 regions.

3Nelson 37% 4Hawke's Bay 36% 5Bay of Plenty 36% 6Canterbury 36% 7Gisborne 36% 8Marlborough 36% 9Otago 36%
About these estimates. No source publishes AI exposure by region for every country. The model splits New Zealand's real ILO sector employment across regions using population (Wikidata) and density: denser, capital-city regions get more finance, ICT and professional jobs, and rural regions more farming. Totals match national figures. AI usage figures are measured, not modelled. Methodology

Other regions of New Zealand

All of New Zealand →