New Zealand Rugby released details on player numbers this week which showed a total of 155,934 players listed with the union, a 3% increase on last year.
The Otago union had 7843 players registered in the union this year, also a 3% rise from last year.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley said it was good to see the increase in players and surprisingly some of the rise in numbers came down to more senior players.
There were 4% more players playing in senior ranks in 2016 than in 2015.
Kinley said that came down to two country teams - Lawrence and Clyde-Earnscleugh - coming back into competitions after missing 2015, and another two teams emerging.
Junior ranks, those aged under 13, gained 5% more players.
Secondary school-aged players had remained static, Kinley said, which he said was not a bad achievement as this age-group had many other options and had limited time on their hands.
Kinley said one of the biggest positives was in increasing the number of coaches the sport had.
The total had risen by 6% from last year and there were now 620 registered coaches in the sport.
''The big focus for us is growing our coaches, upskilling them and making them better,'' Kinley said.
''If we can develop our coaches then they directly have influence on our players. If you have the best coaches engaging with our players then you get the best environment to keep them in the game.''
The union had risen its numbers of young female players, aged 13-20, from 478 to 511, which was beyond a target set for Otago by the national union.
The only blot on the report for Otago was in the refereeing ranks. It was always difficult to keep referees as many of them were students who moved up the ranks while studying in Dunedin and then moved away after graduating.
A few older referees were continuing and there was a plan to get more young referees into the game.
Nationally, the biggest growth area was in players under 1. More than 85,000 children in the age-group are playing rugby, an increase of 5% on 2015 and up almost 10% since 2012.
Rugby is becoming increasingly popular with girls, with a 12% surge in the number of girls under 13 picking up a rugby ball compared to 2015.
New Zealand Rugby head of community rugby Brent Anderson said rugby continued to unify and inspire New Zealanders.
''Despite having a variety of sporting options available, it's pleasing to see rugby continues to hold a special place in the heart of New Zealanders. The game's increased popularity spans age, gender, country and city,'' Anderson said.
Women's rugby continues to be a major growth area for the union. In 2014, New Zealand Rugby's goal was 21,000 female players by 2020 but that has already been reached with 21,937 women and girls playing the game this year.
