The GCH is comprised of five categories, two urban and three rural, that reflect degrees of reducing urban influence and increasing rurality. The GCH applies these categories to all of New Zealand’s Statistical Area 1s (SA1 s, small statistical areas which are the output geography for population data) on a scale from ‘Urban 1’ to ‘Urban 2’ based on population size, and from “Rural 1’ to ‘Rural 3’ based on drive time to their closest major, large, medium, and small urban areas.
The population and drive time thresholds used in the GCH were developed from a health perspective; the nature of the functional relationships between urban areas and rural surrounds considered through a health lens. The quantitative and qualitative (‘on-the-ground’) validity of the GCH were tested in partnership with the Ministry of Health’s National Rural Health Advisory Group (NRHAG) and a wide range of rural health stakeholders.
The GCH is based on Stats NZ geographies and classifications and updates in line with them. The updated GCH 23, based on the 2023, census was released on 1 March 2026.
The GCH is a useful tool for identifying rural populations and monitoring rural-urban variation in health outcomes that can inform the development of rural health policies. However, it has not been designed to uncritically guide health policy and funding decisions and it is not an index of healthcare accessibility or workforce shortage.
Other factors in addition to the GCH may also need to be considered when making policy or funding decisions. These might include: the distribution of population sub-groups (e.g. ethnicity, age) and the social determinants of health; the locations of health services and workforce shortage; local knowledge; the type of health service being considered; and whether individual health service users or health services are to receive the funding.
The GCH research team welcome any queries in relation to the use of this tool.
GCH23 user guide
Download the GCH23 user guide (PDF)
GCH Research team
- Sue Crengle
Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit, Division of Health Sciences
Email: sue.crengle@otago.ac.nz - Gabrielle Davie
Department of Public Health (Dunedin), Faculty of Medicine
Email: gabrielle.davie@otago.ac.nz - Brandon de Graaf
Department of Public Health (Dunedin), Faculty of Medicine
Email: brandon.degraaf@otago.ac.nz - Talis Liepins
Centre for Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine
Email: lieta476@student.otago.ac.nz - Rory Miller
Centre for Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine
Email: rory.miller@otago.ac.nz - Garry Nixon
Centre for Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine
Email: garry.nixon@otago.ac.nz - Michelle Smith
Centre for Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine
Email: michelle.smith@otago.ac.nz - Jane Taafaki Va’a o Tauta
Centre for Pacific Health
Email: jane.taafaki@otago.ac.nz - Jesse Whitehead
Te Ngira: Institute for Population Research, University of Waikato
Email: jesse.whitehead@waikato.ac.nz
Contact us
Please contact us with any queries.
Email gchteam@otago.ac.nz