The State of the City
Benchmarking Tāmaki Makaurau
Auckland’s international performance
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State of the City
The State of the City: Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland benchmarking series provides an independent, “outside-in” assessment of Auckland’s international performance and perceptions.
Initiated by the Committee for Auckland in partnership with Deloitte and Auckland Council, with support from Koi Tū: the Centre for Informed Futures and the New Zealand Government’s Auckland Policy Office, it draws on international benchmarking and research evidence to assess Auckland across five core pillars relative to a consistent peer-city group.
Auckland performs comparatively well on some measures of liveability, natural assets, cultural diversity and visitor experience, but it lags peers in areas more closely linked to long-run productivity, including transport connectivity, innovation, skills, and housing affordability. A slower post-pandemic recovery than many peer cities has added to these pressures.
The State of the City framework helps identify where Auckland is performing competitively, where gaps persist, and which actions matter most for long-term competitiveness, wellbeing, and prosperity.
Benchmarking Reports and Deep Dives (2023-2025)
The three benchmarking reports (2023–2025) establish a consistent evidence base for assessing Auckland’s international performance over time. Using a stable peer-city group and five core pillars, the series enables year-on-year comparison and helps identify where Auckland is improving, holding position, or losing ground.
The 2023 report established the baseline across the five pillars — Opportunity & Prosperity, Innovation & Knowledge, Culture & Experience, Place & Connectivity, and Resilience & Sustainability – and highlighted emerging structural pressures facing the region.
The 2024 report deepened the analysis in several areas. It included a major deep dive into Innovation & Knowledge (including productivity, R&D intensity, commercialisation pathways, and Auckland’s global innovation positioning), alongside additional deep dives on Auckland’s diversity and Auckland’s international perception – broadening the framework’s usefulness beyond comparative metrics alone.
The 2025 report added further depth on Opportunity & Prosperity, with greater emphasis on economic performance, investment, scale, and long-term competitiveness
Taken together, the reports provide continuity, comparability, and strategic clarity — a structured way to track Auckland’s trajectory and identify where coordinated action is most needed.
Video Overviews
Tim Moonen, Co Founder and Managing Director, The Business of Cities
2023 SOTC Overview
2024 SOTC Overview
2025 SOTC Overview
Auckland Narrative (2026 and beyond)
From 2026, the State of the City programme will shift from benchmarking to the development of an Auckland Narrative – a forward-looking framework that builds on the insights of the 2023–2025 reports.
The benchmarking series has provided a clear view of Auckland’s international performance. It has highlighted Auckland’s assets, and the structural challenges affecting competitiveness, productivity and resilience. The Auckland Narrative responds by focusing on alignment and action – defining Auckland’s role within the national context and strengthening collaboration across business, government, iwi and civic leadership.
The Narrative is a programme of work aimed at building consensus and action around shorter and longer-term priorities and across the region. It will be supported by a further benchmarking check-in in subsequent years.