Northwood is a suburb on the northern outskirts of Christchurch city. It was developed in 2000 as a subdivision of Belfast on land previously used for apple orchards. The name "Northwood" was accepted at a meeting of the Shirley-Papanui Community Board on 2 February 2000.

Farmland north-west of what later became Northwood was developed into Peppers Clearwater Resort in 1998.

The Groynes is a large park between Northwood and Clearwater. Styx Mill Conservation Reserve is on the south side of Northwood.

Northwood, comprising the statistical areas of Northwood and Clearwater, covers 7.23 km (2.79 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 4,300 as of June 2023, with a population density of 595 people per km.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2006	2,973	—
2013	4,158	+4.91%
2018	4,266	+0.51%
Source:

Northwood had a population of 4,266 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 108 people (2.6%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,293 people (43.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,650 households, comprising 2,097 males and 2,166 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female, with 681 people (16.0%) aged under 15 years, 609 (14.3%) aged 15 to 29, 2,037 (47.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 939 (22.0%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 83.5% European/Pākehā, 4.6% Māori, 0.8% Pasifika, 13.7% Asian, and 2.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 24.0, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 41.6% had no religion, 48.3% were Christian, 0.1% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.8% were Hindu, 1.3% were Muslim, 0.8% were Buddhist and 1.1% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 882 (24.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 546 (15.2%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,002 people (27.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,701 (47.4%) people were employed full-time, 561 (15.6%) were part-time, and 93 (2.6%) were unemployed.

Individual statistical areas

Name	Area (km)	Population	Density (per km)	Households	Median age	Median income
Clearwater	5.71	699	122	279	50.8 years	$50,300
Northwood	1.45	3,567	2,460	1,371	48.2 years	$37,400
New Zealand					37.4 years	$31,800

The Northwood Supa Centre shopping complex opened in the 2000s. It covers an area of 33,062 m and features 29 retailers, including The Warehouse, Harvey Norman, Countdown, Noel Leeming and Smiths City.