Auckland's urban area had a population of 1,402,275 in the 2023 New Zealand census. Statistics New Zealand's urban-area boundary is narrower than the wider Auckland Region, so the figure should not be confused with the region's population.
The 2023 total was 56,442 higher than in the 2018 census, an increase of 4.2%. It was also 178,734 above the 2013 count, representing 14.6% growth over that decade. Auckland's urban area alone contained a population larger than New Zealand's entire South Island at the time.
The main trap is mixing three measures: the Auckland urban area, Auckland Council's wider region, and population estimates made between censuses. The 2023 census counted 1,656,486 residents in the Auckland Region, while later estimates can be higher still. For this question, the urban-area census total is the relevant measure.