UPDATED 9.28am The homeless population of central Auckland is two and a half times higher than it was three years ago, according to a new report.

The Auckland City Street Count of Central Auckland has found 177 people were sleeping rough within three kilometres of the Sky Tower on a single night this year.

That's the most recorded since the count began in 2004, and is significantly higher than the 68 people counted in the same area in 2013.

At least 51 people weren't included in the count, because they had found temporary accommodation or were in hospital that night.

It can take months or even years for some people to access housing, and the longer someone sleeps rough the harder it is to transition to a normal life, City Missioner Chris Farrelly said.

Farrelly has been overwhelmed by the generosity and compassion of Aucklanders, but the entire city will need to be involved in solving the crisis the city now faces.

"New Zealanders do not want this to be the norm in our city," he said. "It's quite a shock, it is a crisis, and we have to turn it around."

More people are sleeping rough in central Auckland, and more than half of them are now Māori. @NewstalkZB pic.twitter.com/NSilZL5JwY

— Michael Sergel (@michaelsergel) June 7, 2016

The survey also found more women were sleeping rough compared with previous years, and the percentage of Maori had also increased.

This year there were 45 women sleeping rough, compared with 31 in the previous count.

Maori rough sleepers increased from 42 per cent in 2014 to 53 per cent this year.

New Zealand Europeans increased from 30 to 33 per cent. Pacific Islanders comprised 9 per cent, with the remainder of unknown ethnicity.