Watching the clock

As part of its site design, the Statistics New Zealand site has a population clock in its banner design - which currently reads 4,168,445 people.

Stats New Zealand site

It's a nifty little thing, but what I really like about is the figuring-out that underpins it:

New Zealand's population is estimated to increase by one person every 10 minutes and 29 seconds.

This is based on the estimated resident population at 30 September 2006 and the following component settings.

• one birth every 9 minutes and 13 seconds
  
• one death every 19 minutes and 23 seconds
  
• a net migration gain of one New Zealand resident every 25 minutes and 59 seconds.