Due to the gold rush by 1870 one quarter of New Zealanders lived in Otago and one third of exports came from there. In 1881 Dunedin was New Zealand's largest urban centre. The gold mining population with many new Irish and English immigrants shifted the province away from Scottish dominance. The Long Depression was a worldwide economic recession, beginning in 1873 and running either through the spring of 1879, or 1896, depending on the metrics used. In Otago this came soon after the end of the Gold Rush, however by 1882 pastoralism and the associated frozen-meat industry was able to send refrigerated loads to Britain. This lessened the effect of the depression and allowed for continued economic growth in Otago.