The demographics of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 5.1 million people living in New Zealand.
New Zealanders
New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Aotearoa), colloquially known as Kiwis (), are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common history, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citiz ...
predominantly live in urban areas on the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
. The five largest cities are
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
,
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
,
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
,
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
, and
Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
. Few New Zealanders live on New Zealand's smaller islands.
Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland.
It is the most pop ...
(near Auckland) is easily the most populated smaller island with residents, while
Great Barrier Island
Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...
, the
Chatham and Pitt Islands, and
Stewart Island
Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...
each have populations below 1,000. New Zealand is
part of a realm and most people born in the realm's external territories of
Tokelau
Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, a ...
, the
Ross Dependency
The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south. It is claimed by New Zealand, a claim accepted only b ...
, the
Cook Islands
)
, image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, capital = Avarua
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Avarua
, official_languages =
, lan ...
and
Niue
Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...
are entitled to New Zealand passports.
As at the
2018 census, the majority of New Zealand's population is of
European descent
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as " ...
(70 percent), with the indigenous
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
being the largest minority (16.5 percent), followed by
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
s (15.3 percent), and non-Māori
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
s known collectively as
Pasifika (9.0 percent).
This is reflected in
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
, with most new migrants coming from Britain and Ireland, although the numbers from Asia in particular are increasing. Auckland is the most ethnically diverse region in New Zealand with 53.5 percent identifying as Europeans, 28.2 percent as Asian, 11.5 percent as Māori, 15.5 percent as Pacific Islanders, and 2.3 percent as Middle Eastern, Latin American or African (MELAA).
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
and
New Zealand Sign Language
New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL ( mi, te reo Turi) is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was ...
are the official languages, with English predominant. New Zealand English is mostly
non-rhotic
Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant by English speakers. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic variet ...
and sounds similar to
Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language; while Australia has no official language, Engli ...
, with a common exception being the
centralisation
Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...
of the short i. The Māori language has undergone a process of revitalisation and is spoken by 4 percent of the population. New Zealand has an adult literacy rate of 99 percent and over half of the population aged 15–29 hold a tertiary qualification. In the adult population 14.2 percent have a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
or higher, 30.4 percent have some form of secondary qualification as their highest qualification and 22.4 percent have no formal qualification. As at the 2018 census, 37 percent of the population identify as
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, with
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
and
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
being the largest minority religions; almost half of the population (48.5 percent) is
irreligious
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...
.
Farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
is a major occupation in New Zealand, although more people are employed as sales assistants. Most New Zealanders earn wage or salary income, with a median weekly income in 2022 of
NZ$
The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...
848.
Terminology
While the
demonym
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
for a New Zealand citizen is
New Zealander
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
, the informal "
Kiwi
Kiwi most commonly refers to:
* Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand
* Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders
* Kiwifruit, an edible berry
* Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency
Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...
" is commonly used both internationally and by locals. The name derives from the
kiwi
Kiwi most commonly refers to:
* Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand
* Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders
* Kiwifruit, an edible berry
* Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency
Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...
, a native
flightless bird
Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites (ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwi) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the In ...
, which is the
national symbol
A national symbol is a symbol of any entity considering and manifesting itself to the world as a national community: the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or even an ...
of New Zealand. The Māori loanword "
Pākehā
Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...
" usually refers to
New Zealanders of European descent, although some reject this appellation, and some Māori use it to refer to all non-Polynesian New Zealanders.
Most people born in New Zealand or one of the
realm's external territories (
Tokelau
Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, a ...
, the
Ross Dependency
The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south. It is claimed by New Zealand, a claim accepted only b ...
, the
Cook Islands
)
, image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, capital = Avarua
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Avarua
, official_languages =
, lan ...
and
Niue
Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...
) before 2006 are
New Zealand citizens. Further conditions apply for those born from 2006 onwards.
Population
![Change in population by regions in New Zealand based on 2006 - 2013 censuses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Change_in_population_by_regions_in_New_Zealand_based_on_2006_-_2013_censuses.gif)
The
2018 census enumerated a resident population of 4,699,755 – a 10.8 percent increase over the population recorded in the
2013 census.
As of , the total population has risen to an (estimated by extrapolation). The population is increasing at a rate of 1.4–2.0 percent per year. In May 2020,
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand ( mi, Tatauranga Aotearoa), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats ...
reported that New Zealand's population had climbed above 5 million people in March 2020; in September 2020, this was revised six months earlier to September 2019 when population estimates were rebased to the 2018 census.
The median child birthing age was 30 and the
total fertility rate
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if:
# she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime
# she were t ...
is 2.1 births per woman in 2010. In Māori populations the median age is 26 and fertility rate 2.8.
In 2010 the
age-standardised mortality rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...
was 3.8 deaths per 1000 (down from 4.8 in 2000) and the
infant mortality rate
Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...
for the total population was 5.1 deaths per 1000 live births.
The
life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
of a New Zealand child born in 2014-16 was 83.4 years for females, and 79.9 years for males,
which is
among the highest in the world. Life expectancy at birth is forecast to increase from 80 years to 85 years in 2050 and infant mortality is expected to decline.
In 2050 the median age is forecast to rise from 36 years to 43 years and the percentage of people 60 years of age and older rising from 18 percent to 29 percent.
[ During early migration in 1858, New Zealand had 131 males for every 100 females, but following changes in migration patterns and the modern longevity advantage of women, females came to outnumber males in 1971. As of 2012 there are 0.99 males per female, with males dominating under 15 years and females dominating in the 65 years or older range.][Sex Ratio]
. '' The World Factbook''. CIA. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
Vital statistics
Age structure
The age structure of New Zealand is getting increasingly older. Due to undergoing the demographic transition from a 'pre-industrial' age structure to a 'post-industrial' age structure, the country has a sub-replacement fertility rate which is consequently leading to an older population and more evenly balanced population pyramid.
The average age of the citizen has gone from 25.8 years old in 1965 to 38 in 2020 and is projected to rise to 43.7 years old in 2050. The population of 90 year olds is also expected to rise dramatically, in the 1930's there was a approximately 1,000 90+ year olds, in 2016 it had risen to 29,000, in 2030 it is expected to exceed 50,000 and by the 2060's it is to rise above 180,000 people.
Population density
New Zealand's population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
is relatively low, at The vast majority of the population live on the main North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
s, with New Zealand's major inhabited smaller islands being Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland.
It is the most pop ...
(), the Chatham and Pitt Islands (), and Stewart Island
Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...
(381). Over three-quarters of the population live in the North Island ( percent), with one-third of the total population living in the Auckland Region
Auckland () is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland Metropolitan Area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Containing ...
. Most Māori live in the North Island (86.0 percent), although less than a quarter (23.8 percent) live in Auckland.
New Zealand is a predominantly urban country, with percent of the population living in an urban area
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
. About percent of the population live in the 20 main urban areas (population of 30,000 or more) and percent live in the four largest cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton.
Approximately 14 percent of the population live in four different categories of rural area
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
s as defined by Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand ( mi, Tatauranga Aotearoa), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats ...
. About 18 percent of the rural population live in areas that have a high urban influence (roughly 12.9 people per square kilometre), many working in the main urban area. Rural areas with moderate urban influence and a population density of about 6.5 people per square kilometre account for 26 percent of the rural population. Areas with low urban influence where the majority of the residents work in the rural area house approximately 42 percent of the rural population. Remote rural areas with a density of less than 1 person per square kilometre account for about 14 percent of the rural population.
Before local government reforms in the late 1980s, a borough council
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
with more than 20,000 people could be proclaimed a city. The boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, so there was little difference between the urban area and the local government area. In 1989, all councils were consolidated into regional councils (top tier) and territorial authorities
Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a ...
(second tier) which cover a much wider area and population than the old city councils. Today a territorial authority must have a predominantly urban population of at least 50,000 before it can be officially recognised as a city.
Migration
East Polynesians were the first people to reach New Zealand about 1280, followed by the early European explorers, notably James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
in 1769 who explored New Zealand three times and mapped the coastline. Following the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 when the country became a British colony, immigrants were predominantly from Britain, Ireland and Australia. Due to restrictive policies, limitations were placed on non-European immigrants. During the gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
period (1858–1880s) large number of young men came from California and Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
to New Zealand goldfields. Apart from British, there were Irish, Germans, Scandinavians, Italians and many Chinese. The Chinese were sent special invitations by the Otago Chamber of Commerce in 1866. By 1873 they made up 40 percent of the diggers in Otago and 25 percent of the diggers in Westland. From 1900 there was also significant Dutch, Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
n, and Italian immigration together with indirect European immigration through Australia, North America, South America and South Africa. Following World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, policies were relaxed and migrant diversity increased. In 2008–09, a target of 45,000 migrants was set by the New Zealand Immigration Service (plus a 5,000 tolerance).
At the 2018 census, 27.4 percent of people counted were not born in New Zealand, up from 25.2 percent in 2013. In 2018, over half (50.7 percent) of New Zealand's overseas-born population lived in the Auckland Region, including 70 percent of the country's Pacific Island-born population, 61.5 percent of its Asian-born population, and 52 percent of its Middle Eastern and African- born population. In the late 2000s, Asia overtook the British Isles as the largest source of overseas migrants; in 2013 around 32 percent of overseas-born New Zealand residents were born in Asia (mainly China, India, the Philippines and South Korea) compared to 26 percent born in the UK and Ireland. The number of fee-paying international student
International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying.
In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...
s increased sharply in the late 1990s, with more than 20,000 studying in public tertiary institutions
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
in 2002.
To be eligible for entry under the skilled migrant plan applicants are assessed by an approved doctor for good health, provide a police certificate to prove good character and speak sufficient English. Migrants working in some occupations (mainly health) must be registered with the appropriate profession body before they can work within that area. Skilled migrants are assessed by Immigration New Zealand
Immigration New Zealand ( mi, Te Ratonga Manene; INZ), formerly the New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS), is the agency within the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that is responsible for border control, issu ...
and applicants that they believe will contribute are issued with a residential visa, while those with potential are issued with a work to resident visa. Under the work to residency process applicants are given a temporary work permit for two years and are then eligible to apply for residency. Applicants with a job offer from an accredited New Zealand employer, cultural or sporting talent, looking for work where there has been a long-term skill shortage or to establish a business can apply for work to residency.
While most New Zealanders live in New Zealand, there is also a significant diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
abroad, estimated as of 2001 at over 460,000 or 14 percent of the international total of New Zealand-born. Of these, 360,000, over three-quarters of the New Zealand-born population residing outside of New Zealand, live in Australia. Other communities of New Zealanders abroad are concentrated in other English-speaking countries, specifically the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, with smaller numbers located elsewhere. Nearly one quarter of New Zealand's highly skilled workers live overseas, mostly in Australia and Britain, more than any other developed nation. However many educated professionals from Europe and lesser developed countries have recently migrated to New Zealand. A common pathway for New Zealanders to move to the UK is through a job offer via the Tier 2 (General) visa, which grants a 3-year initial stay in the country and can later be extended with three more years. After 5 years the person can apply for permanent residency. Another popular option is the UK Working Holiday visa, also known as "Youth Mobility Scheme" (YMS), which grants New Zealanders 2-year rights to live and work in the UK.
Ethnicity
New Zealand is a multiethnic society
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
, and home to people of many different national origins. Originally composed solely of the Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
who arrived in the thirteenth century, the ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
makeup of the population later became dominated by New Zealanders of European descent. In the nineteenth century, European settlers brought diseases for which the Māori had no immunity. By the 1890s, the Māori population was approximately 40 percent of its size pre-contact. The Māori population increased during the twentieth century, though it remains a minority. The 1961 New Zealand census recorded that the population was 92 percent European and 7 percent Māori, with Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
and Pasifika minorities sharing the remaining 1 percent.
At the latest census in 2018, 70.2 percent identified as European, 16.5 percent as Māori, 15.1 percent as Asian, 8.1 percent as Pacific peoples, and 1.2 percent as Middle-Eastern
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...
, Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
n, and African
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
(MELAA). Most New Zealanders are of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry, with smaller percentages of other European ancestries, such as Dutch, Dalmatian, French, German and Scandinavian. Auckland was the most diverse region with 53.5 percent identifying as European, 28.2 percent as Asian, 11.5 percent as Māori, 15.5 percent as Pacific Islanders and 1.1 percent as MELAA.
All major ethnic groups except European increased when compared with the 2013 census, in which 74 percent identified as European, 14.6 percent as Māori, 11.8 percent as Asian, and 7.4 percent of Pacific Islander origin. Heightened immigration from Asia and the Pacific, and higher fertility rates amongst Māori and Pacific peoples, have resulted in the population of Māori, Asian and Pacific descent growing at a higher rate than those of European descent. Moreover, non-European ethnic groups make up a greater proportion of younger people, whereas European ethnic groups make up a large proportion of older people due to historic immigration trends and lower life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
in Māori and Pacific ethnic groups. For instance, in 2013, the population aged under 15 years was 67 percent European, 27 percent Māori, 14 percent Pacific, 16 percent Asian, and 2 percent MELAA, while the population aged 65 years and older consisted of 86 percent European, 7 percent Māori, 6 percent Asian and 3 percent Pacific.
There was significant public discussion about usage of the term "New Zealander" during the months leading up to the 2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. The number of people identifying with this term increased from approximately 80,000 (2.4 percent) in 2001 to just under 430,000 people (11.1 percent) in 2006. The European grouping significantly decreased from 80.0 percent of the population in 2001 to 67.6 percent in 2006, however, this is broadly proportional to the large increase in "New Zealanders". The number of people identifying as a "New Zealander" dropped back to under 66,000 in 2013, and further declined to about 45,300 in 2018.
Statistics New Zealand has not released official statistical counts of Māori ''iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...
'' (tribes) from the 2018 census due to a low response rate. As last recorded in the 2013 census, the largest ''iwi'' is Ngāpuhi
Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei.
According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165, ...
with 125,601 people (or 18.8 percent of people of Māori descent). Between 2006 and 2013 the number of people of Māori descent stating Ngāpuhi as their ''iwi'' increased by 3,390 people (2.8 percent). The second-largest was Ngāti Porou
Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zealand ...
, with 71,049 people (down 1.2 percent from 2006). Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...
was the largest in the South Island and the third-largest overall, with a count of 54,819 people (an increase of 11.4 percent from 2006). A total of 110,928 people (or 18.5 percent) of Māori descent did not know their ''iwi'' (an increase of 8.4 percent compared with 2006). A group of Māori migrated to ''Rēkohu'', now known as the Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
, where they developed their distinct Moriori
The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of the ...
culture. The Moriori population was decimated, first, by disease brought by European sealers and whalers and, second, by Taranaki
Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...
Māori, with only 101 surviving in 1862 and the last known full-blooded Moriori dying in 1933. The number of people identifying as having Moriori descents increased from 105 in 1991 to 945 in 2006, but decreased to 738 in 2013.
The maps below (taken from 2013 census data) show the percentages of people in each census area unit identifying themselves as European, Māori, Asian, or Pacific Islander (as defined by Statistics New Zealand). As people could identify themselves with multiple groups, percentages are not cumulative.
File:Euro NZ 2006 to 2018.gif, alt=, European from 2006 to 2018
File:Maori ethnicity declared in 2018.png, alt=, Māori in 2018
File:Asians ethnicity 2018 mapped.png, alt=, Asian in 2018
File:Pacific peoples 2018 mapped.png, alt=, Pacific peoples in 2018
Language
English has long been entrenched as a ''de facto'' national language due to its widespread use. In the 2018 census, 95.4 percent of respondents spoke English, down from 96.1 percent in 2013. The New Zealand English dialect is mostly non-rhotic
Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant by English speakers. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic variet ...
with an exception being the Southern Burr found principally in Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...
and parts of Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
. It is similar to Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language; while Australia has no official language, Engli ...
and many speakers from the Northern Hemisphere are unable to tell the accents Accent may refer to:
Speech and language
* Accent (sociolinguistics), way of pronunciation particular to a speaker or group of speakers
* Accent (phonetics), prominence given to a particular syllable in a word, or a word in a phrase
** Pitch acce ...
apart. In New Zealand English the short i (as in kit) has become centralised
Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...
, leading to the phrase ''fish and chips'' sounding like "fush and chups" to the Australian ear. The words ''rarely'' and ''really'', ''reel'' and ''real'', ''doll'' and ''dole'', ''pull'' and ''pool'', ''witch'' and ''which'', and ''full'' and ''fill'' can sometimes be pronounced as homophone
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...
s.[ Trudgill, Peter and Jean Hannah. (2002). International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English, 4th ed. London: Arnold., p 24.] Some New Zealanders pronounce the past participles ''grown'', ''thrown'' and ''mown'' using two syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
s, whereas ''groan'', ''throne'' and ''moan'' are pronounced as one syllable. New Zealanders often reply to a question or emphasise a point by adding a rising intonation
The high rising terminal (HRT), also known as upspeak, uptalk, or high rising intonation (HRI) is a feature of some variants of English where declarative sentences can end with a rising pitch similar to that typically found in yes-or-no questions ...
at the end of the sentence.
Initially, the Māori language
Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...
(''te reo Māori'') was permitted in native schools
In New Zealand, native schools were established to provide education for Māori. The first schools for Māori children were established by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in the Bay of Islands after the arrival of the CMS in 1814. Bishop ...
to facilitate English instruction, but as time went on official attitudes hardened against any use of the language. Māori were discouraged from speaking their own language in schools and work places and it existed as a community language only in a few remote areas. The language underwent a revival beginning in the 1970s, and now more people speak Māori. The future of the language was the subject of a claim before the Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...
in 1985. As a result, Māori was declared an official language in 1987. In the 2013 census, 21.3 percent of Māori people—and 3.7 percent of all respondents, including some non-Māori people—reported conversational fluency in the language. There are now Māori language immersion schools and two Māori Television
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
channels, the only nationwide television channels to have the majority of their prime-time content delivered in Māori. Many places have officially been given dual Māori and English names in recent years.
In the 2018 census, 22,987 people reported the ability to use New Zealand Sign Language
New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL ( mi, te reo Turi) is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was ...
. It was declared one of New Zealand's official languages in 2006.
Samoan is the most widely spoken non-official language (2.2 percent), followed by "Northern Chinese" (including Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
; 2.0 percent), Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
(1.5 percent) and French (1.2 percent). A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are multilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
.
Education
Education follows the three-tier model, which includes primary schools, followed by secondary schools (high schools) and tertiary education at universities or polytechnics. The Programme for International Student Assessment
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-yea ...
ranked New Zealand's education as the seventh highest in 2009. The Education Index
An Education index is a component of the Human Development Index published every year by the United Nations Development Programme. Alongside the Economical indicators and Life Expectancy Index, it helps measure the educational attainment, GNI ( ...
, published with the UN's 2014 Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...
and based on data from 2013, listed New Zealand at 0.917, ranked second after Australia.
there were 476,240 primary students, 278,266 secondary students, and 58,340 students attending composite (combined primary and secondary) schools. Primary and secondary schooling is compulsory for children aged 6 to 16 with most children starting at 5. Early leaving exemptions may be granted to 15-year-old students that have been experiencing some ongoing difficulties at school or are unlikely to benefit from continued attendance. Parents and caregivers can home school their children if they obtain approval from the Ministry of Education and prove that their child will be taught "as regularly and as well as in a registered school". There are 13 school years and attending state (public) schools is nominally free from an individual's fifth birthday until the end of the calendar year following their 19th birthday.
The academic year in New Zealand varies between institutions, but generally runs from late January until mid-December for primary and secondary schools and polytechnics, and from late February until mid-November for universities. New Zealand has an adult literacy rate of 99 percent, and over half of the population aged 15 to 29 hold a tertiary qualification. In the adult population 14.2 percent have a bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
or higher, 30.4 percent have some form of secondary qualification as their highest qualification and 22.4 percent have no formal qualification.
Religion
The predominant religion in New Zealand is Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. As recorded in the 2018 census, about 38 percent of the population identified themselves as Christians, although regular church attendance
Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday); the Westminster Confession of Faith is held by the Reformed Ch ...
is estimated at 15 percent. Another 48.5 percent indicated that they had no religion (up from 41.9 percent in 2013 and 34.7 percent in 2006) and around 7.5 percent affiliated with other religions.
The indigenous religion
Indigenous religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being "indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the "world religions" and "new re ...
of the Māori population was animistic
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, hum ...
, but with the arrival of missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
from the early nineteenth century most of the Māori population converted to Christianity. In the 2018 census, 3,699 Māori identify themselves as adhering to "Māori religions, beliefs and philosophies".
In the 2018 census, the largest reported Christian affiliations are Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
(6.7 percent of the population), Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
(6.3 percent), Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
(4.7 percent). There are also significant numbers of Christians who identify themselves with Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
, Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement , Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
and Latter-day Saint
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
churches, and the New Zealand-based Rātana
The Rātana movement ( mi, Te Haahi Rātana) is a church and pan-''iwi'' political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in early 20th-century New Zealand. The Rātana Church has its headquarters at the settlement of Rātana Pā near W ...
church has adherents among Māori. Immigration and associated demographic change in recent decades has contributed to the growth of minority religions, especially Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
, Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
and Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.[ In tables 28 (Religious Affiliation) and 19 (Languages Spoken by Ethnic Group)]
Income
New Zealand's early economy was based on sealing, whaling, flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...
, gold, kauri gum
Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees (''Agathis australis''), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, be ...
, and native timber. During the 1880s agricultural products became the highest export earner and farming was a major occupation within New Zealand. Farming is still a major employer, with 75 000 people indicating farming as their occupation during the 2006 census, although dairy farming has recently taken over from sheep as the largest sector. The largest occupation recorded during the 2018 census was sales assistant with 108,702 people, followed by office managers (65,907 people), chief executives or managing directors (54,480 people), and sales representatives not elsewhere included (51,747 people). The largest industries of employment were cafes and restaurants (67,608 people), supermarkets and grocery stores (57,609 people), primary education (55,779 people), hospitals (52,887 people), and house construction (51,804 people). Most people earn their income from wages or salaries (60.6 percent), with the other sources of income being superannuation or pensions (17.3 percent), interest and investments (16.8 percent) and self-employment (14.8 percent).
In 1982 New Zealand had the lowest per-capita income of all the developed nations surveyed by the World Bank
The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...
. In 2010 the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the measurement of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currency, currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of ...
(PPP) per capita was roughly US$28,250, between the thirty-first and fifty-first highest for all countries. The median personal income in 2006 was $24,400. This was up from $15,600 in 1996, with the largest increases in the $50,000 to $70,000 bracket. Men earn more than women on average, with the median income for men in 2011 being $31,500, $12,400 more than women. The highest median personal income were for people identifying with the European or "other" ethnic group, while the lowest was from the Asian ethnic group. The median income for people identifying as Māori was $20,900. In 2013, the median personal income had risen slightly to $28,500.
Unemployment peaked above 10 percent in 1991 and 1992, before falling to a record low of 3.7 percent in 2007 (ranking third from twenty-seven comparable OECD nations). Unemployment rose back to 7 percent in late 2009. In the June 2017 quarter, unemployment had fallen to 4.8 percent. This is the lowest unemployment rate since December 2008, after the start of the global financial crisis
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
, when it was 4.4 percent. Most New Zealanders do some form of voluntary work, more women volunteer (92 percent) than males (86 percent). Home ownership has declined since 1991, from 73.8 percent to 66.9 percent in 2006.
See also
* Demographics of Auckland
The Auckland Region is New Zealand's most populous Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority and Auckland its most populous city. In the 2018 census, 1,571,718 persons declared themselves as residents of the region – an increa ...
* Demographics of the Cook Islands, associated with New Zealand
* Health in New Zealand
New Zealand is a high income country, and this is reflected in the overall good health status of the population. However like other wealthy countries, New Zealand suffers from high rates of obesity and heart disease.
The Human Rights Measureme ...
* Homelessness in New Zealand
Homelessness in New Zealand has been linked to the general issue of lack of suitable housing. The homeless population is generally measured through the country's census and by universities and other academic centres. In 2009, urban homelessness (ro ...
* Housing in New Zealand
Housing in New Zealand was traditionally based on the quarter-acre block, detached suburban home, but many historical exceptions and alternative modern trends exist. New Zealand has largely followed international designs. From the time of org ...
* List of cities in New Zealand
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* New Zealand census
The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings ( mi, Te Tatauranga o ngā Tāngata Huri Noa i Aotearoa me ō rātou Whare Noho) is a national population and housing census conducted by government department Statistics New Zealand every five y ...
* Social class in New Zealand
Social class in New Zealand is a product of both Māori and Western social structures. Researchers have traditionally discussed New Zealand, a first-world country, as a "classless society", but this claim is problematic in a number of ways. Since ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
New Zealand's population clock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics Of New Zealand
Ethnic groups in New Zealand
Immigration to New Zealand