The area administered by the Christchurch City Council has a population of 388,400(June 2018),[2] making it the second-largest in New Zealand, and the largest city in the South Island.

The Christchurch urban area at 404,500 is the third-largest in the country by population, after Auckland and Wellington. The urban area differs from the city by including Kaiapoi in the Waimakariri District and Prebbleton in the Selwyn District, while excluding most of the Banks Peninsula.