---
title: "New Zealand vs Taiwan — area, population, currency"
description: "New Zealand is 268,838 km² with 5,324,700 people; Taiwan is 35,980 km² with 23,600,776. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/new-zealand-vs-taiwan/
site: "At One Place"
---

# New Zealand vs Taiwan

**New Zealand vs Taiwan: New Zealand is larger; Taiwan has more people**

268,838 km² vs 35,980 km² · 5,324,700 vs 23,600,776

New Zealand is 7.5 times larger than Taiwan — 268,838 against 35,980 km². Taiwan is 4.4 times more populous than New Zealand — 23,600,776 against 5,324,700 people.

## Side by side

|  | New Zealand | Taiwan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Wellington | Taipei |
| Area | 268,838 km² | 35,980 km² |
| Population | 5,324,700 (2025) | 23,600,776 (2025) |
| Density | 19.8 /km² | 655.9 /km² |
| Currency | New Zealand dollar (NZD) | New Taiwan dollar (TWD) |
| Official languages | English, Māori, New Zealand Sign Language | Mandarin Chinese |
| Time zones | UTC+12:00, UTC+12:45 | UTC+08:00 |
| Calling code | +64 | +886 |
| Drives on the | left | right |
| Continent | Oceania | Asia |
| ISO codes | NZ / NZL | TW / TWN |

## Population density

Taiwan is 33 times more densely populated than New Zealand — 656 against 20 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

## Practical differences

- They drive on opposite sides — New Zealand on the left, Taiwan on the right.
- Different currencies: the New Zealand dollar and the New Taiwan dollar.
- New Zealand spans 2 time zones, so "local time" there is not a single answer.
- Different continents — Oceania and Asia.

## New Zealand

Two main islands and around 600 smaller ones, roughly 1,600 km long. New Zealand broke away from Gondwana about 80 million years ago and had no land mammals except bats until people arrived, which is why so many of its birds are flightless. The Southern Alps run most of the South Island and reach 3,724 m at Aoraki / Mount Cook.

## Taiwan

A mountainous island: 268 peaks rise above 3,000 m in an area smaller than Switzerland, and Yushan reaches 3,952 m. Taroko Gorge is cut about 19 km through marble. The island sits on the Ring of Fire and the Tropic of Cancer crosses it, so the south is tropical and the high interior gets snow.

> Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.

## Common questions

### Is New Zealand bigger than Taiwan?

New Zealand is larger — 268,838 km² against 35,980 km².

### Which has more people, New Zealand or Taiwan?

Taiwan, with 23,600,776 against 5,324,700.

### What is the time difference between New Zealand and Taiwan?

New Zealand is UTC+12:00, UTC+12:45 and Taiwan is UTC+08:00. Daylight saving shifts the gap during the year in places that observe it.

## Related pages

- [New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country/new-zealand/)
- [Taiwan](https://atoneplace.net/country/taiwan/)
- [India vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-new-zealand/)
- [India vs Taiwan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-taiwan/)
- [China vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-new-zealand/)
- [China vs Taiwan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-taiwan/)
- [Japan vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-new-zealand/)
- [Japan vs Taiwan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-taiwan/)
- [Canada vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/canada-vs-new-zealand/)
- [Canada vs Taiwan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/canada-vs-taiwan/)
- [Australia vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/australia-vs-new-zealand/)
- [Australia vs Taiwan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/australia-vs-taiwan/)
- [New Zealand vs United States](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/new-zealand-vs-united-states/)
- [New Zealand vs United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/new-zealand-vs-united-kingdom/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]