New Zealand’s Population Just Jumped From 5 Million To 695 Billion Overnight – Well, Sort Of

New Zealanders woke up to a bit of a surprise on Monday morning: billboards dotted around three of its cities stating that the country’s population wasn’t actually 5 million – it was 695 billion. That’s more people than exist on Earth, and we’d certainly know about it if billions of aliens had descended upon New Zealand and made it their home – so what’s actually going on?

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Turns out, this estimate doesn’t just include all the humans living in New Zealand, but is instead the Department of Conservation’s (DOC) “playful, back-of-the-envelope” count of all of the living creatures in the country. Well, nearly all of them.

“The 695 billion number came from playing with some data sets and having a go at estimating the population of all visible living things, like birds, fish, plants, and trees. We obviously couldn’t count all the slugs and bugs,” said Penny Nelson, DOC Director, in a statement.

That's pretty valid – if they had included bugs in the estimate, we suspect the number would be mind-boggling. New Zealand is thought to be home to about 20,000 insect species, and if global estimates are anything to go by, they likely make up a hefty chunk of the population. A 2023 study, for example, found that the combined weight of all land-dwelling insects and arthropods is about 1 billion tonnes, over double that of humans.

But the point here isn’t to make an exact calculation. It’s to draw people’s attention to how much is at stake when it comes to the state of New Zealand’s nature. According to Nelson, 89 percent of New Zealanders believe it to be in “good shape” – which is far from the case.

“There are just 238 kākāpō left, fewer than 40 tara iti (New Zealand fairy tern), and 4,000 native species that are threatened or at risk of extinction. Sixty-three percent of our ecosystems are on the brink of collapse. These are the numbers we want everyone to be aware of,” Nelson explained.

The “new population” is part of the DOC’s new campaign, “Always Be Naturing”, to make people aware of what’s going on – and also how they can help.

“We want to spark curiosity and conversations around all the amazing plants, birds, and marine life we have in this country and what we stand to lose if we don’t look after it,” said Nelson. “We know when we take action, it makes a tangible difference – nature is resilient and can bounce back. This is why we are launching the Always Be Naturing campaign, to encourage people to view nature differently, get out and get amongst it, and take action.”

What might that action look like? "You could build a bird feeder in your backyard, plant native grasses or shrubs, put a bell on your cat, donate money, or join a local conservation group. Every action will help,” Nelson suggested. The campaign is keen to get businesses involved, too.

“Conservation is not just for the experts, it’s for everyone,” said Nelson. “By combining our efforts and expertise we can go further together and make the change nature needs.”