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 . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km<sup>2</sup>.
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/PÃÂkehÃÂ, 4.6% MÃÂori, 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 MÃÂori 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.
The Northwood Supa Centre shopping complex opened in the 2000s. It covers an area of 33,062 m<sup>2</sup> and features 29 retailers, including Burnsco, PandaMart, Spotlight, Repco and Smiths City.