Superintendent Dave Cliff said four more bodies had been pulled from rubble by recovery teams in the shattered city of Christchurch overnight, bringing the latest tally to 159.
But many more people remain missing and Mr Cliff has said the final tally is likely to be around 240.
© UnknownAfter-effects: A cloud of dust covered Christchurch New Zealand today as a police chief warned that many of the bodies crushed in the earthquake might never be recovered
The gloomy verdict came on the day that thick clouds of dust engulfed the city which is still reeling from the 6.3 magnitude earthquake.
Strong winds whipped up particles of debris from the fallen rubble in a haunting after-effect of the disaster.
As the cloud hung over the city, more than 900 urban disaster specialists were working at sites picking through the remains of wrecked buildings and clearing away debris as the massive operation moved into its second week.
No-one has been pulled alive from the rubble since 26 hours after the quake struck on February 22 and authorities are pessimistic about finding any other survivors.
The operation to recover bodies has been slowed by near-constant aftershocks that have rumbled through the city, threatening to bring further debris raining down from damaged buildings.
© APHaunting: The debilitating clouds of dust, a reminder of the tragic quake, were caused by strong winds which whipped up the particles from the tonnes of debris that fell in the disaster
© Associated PressHaunting: The debilitating clouds of dust, a reminder of the tragic quake, were caused by strong winds which whipped up the particles from the tonnes of debris that fell in the disaster
© Tony Stewart / Barcroft MediaDamage: Brougham St in Sydenham remained closed as repair workers struggled to tackle the chaos caused by the devastating earthquake
'There may be some cases where, because of the enormous forces involved in this, that it may not be possible to retrieve bodies in all cases,' Mr Cliff said.
'We need to alert people to that possibility.'
Among those listed as missing are an unknown number of students and staff from Japan, China and other countries who were at an English language school that was housed in one of two office buildings that collapsed in the quake.
Police said last week that up to 120 bodies were inside the Canterbury Television, or CTV, building, where the language school was located.
© Getty ImagesWreckage: Police officers walk through the central business district in Christchurch as the death toll from earthquake has risen to 159
© ReutersTrapped: Superintendent Dave Cliff the bodies of some victims of New Zealand's devastating earthquake may never be recovered
© AFP / Getty ImagesCatastrophe: Damaged cars were still covered in rubble in the central business district today as a cloud of dust from the debris engulfed the city
Some of the city's 350,000 residents donned face masks when they went outside to protect themselves from the dust.
The magnitude 6.3 quake struck within a few miles of central Christchurch, when the city was bustling with workers, shoppers and tourists going about their weekday afternoon activities.
It brought down or badly damaged office towers, churches and thousands of homes across the city.
Prime minister John Key said a commission of inquiry would investigate the circumstances of the quake, including a detailed look at why the CTV building and the other hardest-hit, the Pyne Gould Guinness building, collapsed.
The owners of the CTV building said in a statement issued by their lawyers they would co-operate with the inquiry.
Lawyer Ken Jones said the owners had commissioned a detailed structural engineers report after an earlier quake on September 4, which found superficial damage to the building from that temblor, but raised no structural issues.
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