More than 100,000 firearms have been entered into the new Firearms Registry since it was launched in June last year.
It requires New Zealand's roughly 235,000 licensed gun holders to register using an online system by mid-2028.
Te Tari Pūreke - Firearms Safety Authority executive director Angela Brazier said close to 10 percent of those licence holders have registered, with the South Island at the forefront.
The registry aimed to prevent firearms from falling into the wrong hands and digitising the system helped to detect illegal activity, she said.
"Along with preventing the sale and purchase of stolen firearms, the registry provides a better way for police to trace where firearms used by criminals have come from."
Canterbury - the area with the most licence holders - had the highest number of firearms registered, with 14,289.
Southern and Central districts were not far behind with more than 12,000 registered in each district, while 10,098 firearms were registered in Bay of Plenty and more than 8000 in Waitemata and Waikato districts.
Brazier thanked gun owners who had already filed their weapons into the registry, and encouraged others to get onboard by going to www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz or calling 0800 844 431 during business hours.
"When fully rolled out, the registry will provide a picture of all lawfully held firearms and arms items in New Zealand," she said.
"This will give greater transparency when firearms are changing hands and ultimately make the availability of firearms to the black market more difficult."
Tasman and Wellington gun owners have registered more than 7000 firearms each, and there were 5839 firearms in the system at Counties Manukau, 5313 in Eastern district, 4420 in Auckland City, 4235 in Northland and 512 in other locations.
