Diversity demographics
The increasing ethnic diversity of New
Zealanders was identified in the 2001 Census.
Statistics New Zealand – Te Tari Tatau – published this
conclusion and the supporting statistics in its media release on
the 2001 Census Snapshot 1 (Cultural Diversity), still
available in 2005
The census counted more people of Asian ethnicity than Pacific peoples
ethnicity.
Almost 240,000 or 1 in 15 people were of Asian ethnicity.
Counts of people of Asian ethnicity have more than doubled between
1991 and 2001.
There were 231,801 people of Pacific peoples ethnicity.
The count of people of European ethnicity has declined from 83 percent
of the total in the 1991 Census to 80 percent in 2001.
One in seven people (526,281) are of Mäori ethnicity.
Two-thirds of people of Asian ethnicity live in the Auckland region
and 1 in 8 live in the Wellington region.
Two-thirds of the people of Pacific peoples ethnicity live in the
Auckland region.
In the Auckland region, 1 in 8 people are of Asian ethnicity, 1
in 8 of Pacific peoples ethnicity and 1 in 10 of Mäori ethnicity.
Nearly 9 out of 20 people in the Gisborne region are of Mäori
ethnicity.
More people born overseas
Almost 1 in 5 New Zealand residents were born overseas compared
with 1 in 6 in 1991 and 1 in 3 in 1901.
In the Auckland region, 1 in 3 people were born overseas.
In the Auckland region, 1 in 9 people were born in Asia.
Almost three quarters of people born in the Pacific Islands and
two-thirds of those born in Asia live in Auckland.
Almost 1 in 4 people in the Wellington region were born overseas,
while fewer than 1 in 15 people in the Southland region were born
overseas.
While the number of New Zealand residents born in Europe has shown
a small decline since 1996, there have been large increases from
Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
More multilingual people
The number of multilingual people increased by 20 percent
from the 1996 Census to 562,113 or nearly 1 in 6.
English is the predominant language spoken.
Excluding children under 5 years of age, 1 in 50 people do not speak
English
Increase in non-Christian religions
Over two million people are Christian.
The main Christian denominations are Anglican (584,793 or 17 percent
of people), Catholic (486,012 or 14 percent) and the Presbyterian
group (417,453 or 11 percent).
The number of Catholics increased by 12,900 between 1996 and 2001,
while the number of Anglicans (-46,971) along with the Presbyterian
group (-38,895) decreased.
The count of Anglicans exceeded that of the other denominations
in all regions except Auckland (where Catholics were largest) and
Otago and Southland (where the Presbyterian group was the largest).
The main denominations in the 1901 Census were Church of England
(41 percent of people), Presbyterian (23 percent), Catholic (14
percent), and Methodist (11 percent).
At the 1901 Census only 1 in 30 people did not give a religious
affiliation.
Almost 4 out of 10 people did not specify a religious affiliation
in the 2001 Census.
There has been an increase in people whose religion is non-Christian.
Find out more The demographers at Statistics New Zealand
are available to update and extend this information – some
on a public good basis, some for a charge.
Updated Tuesday, March 15, 2005, without incorporating any post
2001 census content
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