Demographics of New Zealand

Table of contents

1 Overview
2 Population

2.1 Age structure

2.1.1 Median age

2.2 Population growth rate

2.2.2 Vital Statistics

2.3 Sex ratio
2.4 Infant mortality rate
2.5 Life expectancy at birth:
2.6 Total fertility rate

3 HIV/AIDS
4 Nationality
5 Ethnic groups (2001 Census)
6 Religions (2001 Census)
7 Languages (2001 Census)
8 Literacy

Overview

Most of the 4 million New Zealanders are of European descent, overwhelmingly of British or Irish origin. These people are often known in New Zealand as Pakeha. About 15% claim descent from the indigenous Maori people, a branch of the Polynesian people. Nearly 75% of the people, including a large majority of Maori, live on the North Island. In addition, 167,000 Pacific Islanders also live in New Zealand. Unlike Australia, traditionally there has been very little immigration from continental Europe, except from the Netherlands. There has been increased immigration from East Asian countries, such as Taiwan and South Korea, and also from South Africa. During the late 1870s, natural increase permanently replaced immigration as the chief contributor to population growth and has accounted for more than 75% of population growth in the 20th century. Nearly 85% of New Zealand's population lives in urban areas (with almost one-third in Auckland alone), where the service and manufacturing industries are growing rapidly. New Zealanders colloquially refer to themselves as "Kiwis," after the country's native bird.

Population

3,951,307 (July 2003 est.)
The population is estimated to have increased above 4,000,000 people on 24 April, 2003.

Age structure

0-14 years: 21.9% (male 443,837; female 423,118)
15-64 years: 66.5% (male 1,318,751; female 1,307,796)
65 years and over: 11.6% (male 199,722; female 258,083) (2003 est.)

Median age

Total: 33.1 years

male: 32.4 years
female: 33.9 years (2002)

Population growth rate

1.09% (2003 est.)

Vital Statistics

Birth rate: 14.14 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate: 7.54 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate: 4.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
- Total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate

Total: 6.07 deaths/1,000 live births
- Female: 5.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
- male: 6.96 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:

Total population: 78.32 years
- male: 75.34 years
- female: 81.44 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.79 children born/woman (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2001 est.)
- People living with HIV/AIDS: 1,200 (2001 est.)
- HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2001 est.)

Nationality

noun: New Zealander(s) adjective: New Zealand

Ethnic groups (2001 Census)

The figures below add up to more than 100 percent because intermarriage is common, and the New Zealand census allows citizens to specify multiple ethnic identities.

New Zealand European/Pakeha: 75.0% - mostly 3rd+ generation, mainly British ancestry; some Dutch, etc.
Other European: 5.0% - mostly 1st and 2nd generation.
Maori: 14.7%
Asian: 6.6%
- Chinese: 2.8%
- Indian: 1.7%
- Other Asian: 2.1%
Pacific Islander: 6.5%
- Samoan: 3.2%
- Cook Islander/Rarotongan: 1.5%
- Tongan: 1.1%
- Other Pacific Islander: 1.8%
Others: 0.8% (Africans, Latin Americans, Middle Easterners, etc.)

Religions (2001 Census)

The following figures are from the 2001 Census. It should be noted that the census figures for Christian denominations differ widely from the membership claimed by the churches, which is, in most cases, considerably lower. Many New Zealanders have a nominal preference for a particular denomination, but no meaningful relationship with it.

It should also be noted that the religious question is the only optional question in the New Zealand census. Some religious groups (e.g., the Exclusive Brethren [not to be confused with the Brethren in this census]) instruct their followers not to answer this question; others, both Christian and non-Christian, avoid answering this question for various reasons.

Christian: 60.7%
- Protestant: 38.2%
  - Anglican: 16.9%
  - Presbyterian: 12.4%
  - Methodist: 3.5%
  - Pentecostal: 1.9%
  - Baptist: 1.5%
  - Brethren: 0.6%
  - Seventh-Day Adventist: 0.4%
  - Salvation Army: 0.4%
  - Other Protestant: 0.6%
- Roman Catholic: 14.0%
- Maori Christian: 1.8% (denominations not started by Western missions or agencies)
  - Ratana: 1.4%
  - Ringatu: 0.4%
- Marginal Christian: 1.7%
  - Latter Day Saints (Mormons): 1.2%
  - Jehovah's Witnesses: 0.5%
- Eastern Orthodox: 0.3%
- Other Christian: 5.6% (including Christians who did not specify a denomination)
Non-religious: 29.6%
Buddhist: 1.1%
Hindu: 1.0%
Moslem: 0.7%
Jewish: 0.2%
Other Religions: 0.5%
Question not answered: 6.9%

Languages (2001 Census)

The figures below total more than 100 percent, because the census counted all languages in which individuals considered themselves fluent; many speakers of minority languages were therefore counted more than once.

English: 96.1%
Maori: 4.5%
Samoan: 2.3%
French: 1.4%
German: 1.0%
Yue: 1.0% (Chinese dialect)
New Zealand Sign Language: 0.8%
Mandarin: 0.7%
Dutch: 0.7%
Tongan: 0.6%
Hindi: 0.6%
Japanese: 0.6%
Korean: 0.4%
Other European languages: 1.9%
North Indian languages (excluding Hindi): 0.8%
Chinese dialects (excluding Yue and Mandarin): 0.9%
Other South Asian languages (including Malay and Indonesian): 0.9%
Pacific languages (excluding Samoan and Tongan): 0.6%
Other languages (including Tamil, Telugu, etc): 0.9%
No language (e.g., too young to talk): 2.1%

Literacy

Age 15 and over can read and write: 99% (1980 estimate).

See also : New Zealand