Transport and infrastructure in New Zealand

Our listing of the primary types of transport compares the infrastructure of New Zealand with the average of all countries in the Australian continent. Overall, the traffic routes are above average and in good condition.

In terms of the length of its rail network, New Zealand ranks 16th in the world with 0.81 meters per inhabitant. In total, the rail network is 4,128 kilometers long. Freight traffic on the rails most recently totaled 3.83 billion tons and kilometers traveled.

› Airports in New Zealand

Back to overview: New Zealand

Road traffic

The network of roads and highways has a total length of 94,000 km. For each of the country's 5.12 million inhabitants, this corresponds to 18.35 meters. This puts New Zealand in 28th place in the global ranking. However, it is also important to note that the country's population density is very low at around 19 inhabitants per km². In this case, disproportionately long distances generally have to be covered to reach the more remote parts of the country.

With an average of 387 traffic fatalities per year (2013 - 2019), road traffic in New Zealand is considered relatively safe. This corresponds to 8.1 accident fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year. By comparison, this figure is 12.3 in the USA and 17.0 worldwide.

In New Zealand, left-hand traffic is the rule on the roads, i.e. you drive in the left lane and overtake on the right. Oncoming traffic comes to meet you on the right side. Here you can also find an overview of all countries with left-hand traffic.

	total	per 1 mio inhabitants	per km²
	New Zealand
Roadways	94,000 km	18,350.06 km	351.13 m
Railroads	4,100 km	805.84 km	15.42 m
Waterways	0 km	0.00 km	0.00 m
Commercial harbors	115	22.45	0.000
Airports	28	5.47	0.105

	total	per 1 mio inhabitants	per km²
	Australia
Roadways	967,800 km	31,407.04 km	120.84 m
Railroads	37,500 km	1,216.57 km	4.68 m
Waterways	2,000 km	64.90 km	0.25 m
Commercial harbors	696	22.59	0.000
Airports	188	6.10	0.000

Data sources used

• Global Health Observatory Data Repository (World Health Organization)
• UNCTAD
• Internation Union of Railways (UIC)
• CIA Factbook
• OECD Statistics
• Wikipedia (german)

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