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

Manawatū-Whanganui

Regional Council NZ-MWT Largest city: Palmerston North
36%
of jobs here are estimated to be exposed to generative AI, below the national 36% (−0.9 pts).
MODEL10th of 24 regions50K exposed workers

Key numbers

PopulationWIKIDATA
261K
as of 2025
Share of national populationWIKIDATA
4.9%
6th largest of 24
People in workMODEL
141K
national total × population share
Highest-exposure jobsMODEL
6.8%
national 7.0%
Area
22.2K km²
12 people per km²
Settlement patternMODEL
Rural
56% live in major cities
Largest city
Palmerston North
82.4K (metro)
Mapped towns & cities
3
Natural Earth places

AI use

The Anthropic Economic Index does not publish usage for this region. Regions below a minimum number of sampled conversations are left out.

Sector mix

MODEL

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

Manawatū-Whanganui New Zealand
Retail & wholesale 13.3%
Health & care 13.1%
Construction 10.6%
Business services 10.5%
Education 10.1%
Manufacturing 8.8%
Agriculture 7.0%
Other services 5.4%
Public admin 5.1%
Hospitality 4.9%
Transport & logistics 4.5%
ICT & software 3.0%
Finance 2.3%
Utilities 1.1%
Mining 0.3%

Exposed workers by sector

MODEL
Health & care 8,114 Retail & wholesale 6,867 Education 6,780 Business services 6,713 Public admin 3,659 Manufacturing 3,139 Construction 2,831 Other services 2,508

Ranking in New Zealand

MODEL

By modelled AI exposure, out of 24 regions.

7Gisborne 36% 8Marlborough 36% 9Otago 36% 10Manawatū-Whanganui 36% 11Taranaki 35% 12Southland 35% 13Waikato 35%
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

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