Total population | |
---|---|
861,576 people (2023) 17.3% of New Zealand's population [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Waikato | |
Languages | |
New Zealand English · Asian languages | |
Religion | |
34.0% No religion 26.8% Christianity 16.8% Hinduism 6.2% Buddhism 5.7% Sikhism 5.7% Islam [2] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Asian Americans · Asian Australians · Asian Britons · Asian Canadians · Asian people |
Asian New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Asian ancestry (including naturalised New Zealanders who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). At the 2023 census, 861,573 New Zealanders identifying as being part of the Asian ethnic group, making up 17.3% of New Zealand's population. [3]
The first Asians in New Zealand were Chinese workers who migrated to New Zealand to work in the gold mines in the 1860s. The modern period of Asian immigration began in the 1970s when New Zealand relaxed its restrictive policies to attract migrants from Asia.
Under Statistics New Zealand classification, the term refers to a pan-ethnic group that includes diverse populations who have ancestral origins in East Asia (e.g. Chinese, Korean, Japanese), Southeast Asia (e.g. Filipino, Vietnamese, Malaysian), and South Asia (e.g. Nepalese, Indian (incl. Indo-Fijians), Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Pakistani). New Zealanders of West Asian and Central Asian ancestry are excluded from this term.
Colloquial usage of the term Asian in New Zealand, as differentiated from the Statistics New Zealand definition, primarily refers to those of Chinese ethnicity or other people of East Asian ancestry, and excludes people who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent (i.e. South Asian ethnic groups). [4] [5]
There were 861,576 people identifying as being part of the Asian ethnic group at the 2023 New Zealand census, making up 17.3% of New Zealand's population. [3] This is an increase of 153,978 people (21.8%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 389,868 people (82.7%) since the 2013 census. Some of the increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was due to Statistics New Zealand starting to add ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to the census data to reduce the number of non-responses. [6]
The median age of Asian New Zealanders was 33.8 years, compared to 38.1 years for all New Zealanders; 178,302 people (20.7%) were aged under 15 years, 177,582 (20.6%) were 15 to 29, 438,675 (50.9%) were 30 to 64, and 67,023 (7.8%) were 65 or older. [7]
At the 2018 census, there were 348,948 males and 358,650 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.973 males per female. 23.0% of the Asian ethnic group was born in New Zealand, up from 22.7% at the 2013 census and 20.0% at the 2006 census. Of those born in New Zealand, 64.6% were under the age of 15. [8]
The majority of Asian New Zealanders live in the Auckland Region. As of the 2023 census, 60.1% (518,178) of Asian New Zealanders lived in the Auckland region, 25.3% (218,586) lived in the North Island outside the Auckland region, and 14.5% (124,800) lived in the South Island. Two of Auckland's local boards have a majority Asian population: Howick (52.4%) and Puketāpapa (50.4%). Hamilton City had the highest concentration of Asian New Zealanders outside Auckland at 22.8%. Great Barrier Island and the Wairoa district had the lowest concentrations of Asian New Zealanders, both at 1.7%. [3]
Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Korean are the most commonly nominated Asian ancestries in New Zealand. Chinese New Zealanders were 4 percent of the New Zealand population (2013) and Indian New Zealanders were 3 percent of the New Zealand population (2013).
Ethnicity | 2001 census | 2006 census | 2013 census | 2018 census | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
Chinese New Zealanders | 100,680 | 2.81 | 139,731 | 3.62 | 163,101 | 4.07 | 247,770 | 5.3 |
Indian New Zealanders | 60,213 | 1.68 | 97,443 | 2.52 | 143,520 | 3.58 | 239,193 | 5.1 |
Filipino New Zealanders | 11,091 | 0.31 | 16,938 | 0.44 | 40,350 | 1.01 | 72,612 | 1.5 |
Korean New Zealanders | 19,026 | 0.53 | 30,792 | 0.80 | 30,171 | 0.75 | 35,664 | 0.76 |
Japanese New Zealanders | 10,026 | 0.28 | 11,910 | 0.31 | 14,118 | 0.35 | 18,141 | 0.39 |
Sri Lankan New Zealanders | 6,042 | 0.17 | 7,041 | 0.18 | 9,561 | 0.24 | 16,830 | 0.36 |
Fijian Indian New Zealanders | 1,983 | 0.06 | 5,616 | 0.15 | 10,929 | 0.27 | 15,000 | 0.32 |
Thai New Zealanders | 4,554 | 0.13 | 6,057 | 0.16 | 8,052 | 0.20 | 10,251 | 0.22 |
Vietnamese New Zealanders | 3,462 | 0.10 | 4,770 | 0.12 | 6,660 | 0.17 | 10,086 | 0.21 |
Cambodian New Zealanders | 5,268 | 0.15 | 6,915 | 0.18 | 8,601 | 0.21 | 9,672 | 0.20 |
Taiwanese New Zealanders | 3,768 | 0.11 | 5,448 | 0.14 | 5,715 | 0.14 | 6,570 | 0.14 |
Indonesian New Zealanders | 2,073 | 0.06 | 3,261 | 0.08 | 4,137 | 0.10 | 6,033 | 0.13 |
Malaysian New Zealanders | 2,052 | 0.06 | 3,537 | 0.09 | 4,797 | 0.12 | 3,729 | 0.08 |
Asian (not further defined) | 3,927 | 0.11 | 2,160 | 0.06 | 4,623 | 0.12 | 11,811 | 0.25 |
Total Asian New Zealanders | 238,179 | 6.64 | 354,552 | 9.18 | 471,708 | 11.76 | 707,598 | 15.1 |
The political party New Zealand First has frequently criticised immigration on economic, social and cultural grounds. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has on several occasions characterised the rate of Asian immigration into New Zealand as too high; in 2004, he stated: "We are being dragged into the status of an Asian colony and it is time that New Zealanders were placed first in their own country." [10] On 26 April 2005, he said: "Māori will be disturbed to know that in 17 years' time they will be outnumbered by Asians in New Zealand", an estimate disputed by Statistics New Zealand, the government's statistics bureau. Peters quickly responded that Statistics New Zealand had underestimated the growth-rate of the Asian community in the past. [11] Peters' statement was proven incorrect in time; at the 2023 census, 18 years later, Asians made up 17.3% of the population while Māori made up 17.8% of the population. [12]
In April 2008, deputy New Zealand First party leader Peter Brown drew widespread attention after voicing similar views and expressing concern at the increase in New Zealand's ethnic Asian population: "We are going to flood this country with Asian people with no idea what we are going to do with them when they come here." [13] "The matter is serious. If we continue this open door policy there is real danger we will be inundated with people who have no intention of integrating into our society. The greater the number, the greater the risk. They will form their own mini-societies to the detriment of integration and that will lead to division, friction and resentment." [14]
Asians, specifically Chinese New Zealanders and others of East Asian origin, reported several instances of discrimination during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In a study of 1,452 participants who identified as from Asian descent published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, 40.3% reported experiences with racism. The most common forms of racism were microaggressions and verbal attacks occurring predominantly in public places, social media, mainstream media and schools. A significant number of participants, nearly 50%, of high school and tertiary students "reported experiencing racism during the pandemic." [15] In Rolleston, Canterbury, an email was sent to a Chinese-origin student's parent, which reportedly said, "our Kiwi kids don't want to be in the same class with your disgusting virus spreaders." [16] Canterbury has a very small population of Asians. One significant finding from the same study, "Asian New Zealanders' experiences of racism during the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with life satisfaction," is that participants living in rural areas are significantly more likely to experience racism than participants living in urban areas. However, there are numerous reports of "racial outbursts" and "microaggressions" reported by several New Zealand news outlets. [15]
In response to the rise in racism against Asians, the New Zealand government has commissioned reports to combat racism. According to The New Zealand Herald , "Labour MP Raymond Huo said the coronavirus had become the number one issue among the local Chinese community both for efforts to ensure safety of family members and for the incidents of racial abuse it was bringing." [17] In response to the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, hundreds of people marched in Auckland protesting against Asian hate and racism on March 27, 2021. During the rally, Labour MP Naisi Chen said "Racism has been part of the country for a very long time," calling on the Asian community to step forward and serve in government. [18]
The demographics of New Zealand encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 5.2 million people living in New Zealand. New Zealanders predominantly live in urban areas on the North Island. The five largest cities are Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, and Tauranga. Few New Zealanders live on New Zealand's smaller islands. Waiheke Island is easily the most populated smaller island with 9,420 residents, while Great Barrier Island, the Chatham and Pitt Islands, and Stewart Island 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, the Ross Dependency, the Cook Islands and Niue are entitled to New Zealand passports.
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 less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of 113,729 km2 (43,911 sq mi), it is the world's 14th-largest island, constituting 43% of New Zealand's land area. It has a population of 3,997,300, which is 77% of New Zealand's residents, making it the most populous island in Polynesia and the 28th-most-populous island in the world.
New Zealanders, colloquially known as Kiwis, are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common history, culture, and language. People of various ethnicities and national origins are citizens of New Zealand, governed by its nationality law.
New Zealanders of European descent are mostly of British and Irish ancestry, with significantly smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as Germans, Poles, French, Dutch, Croats and other South Slavs, Greeks, and Scandinavians. European New Zealanders are also known by the Māori-language loanword Pākehā.
Chinese New Zealanders or Sino-New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Chinese ancestry. The largest subset of Asian New Zealanders, many of the Chinese immigrants came from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or other countries that have large populations of Chinese diaspora. Today's Chinese New Zealand group is also composed of diasporic communities from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. As of 2018, Chinese New Zealanders account for 4.9% of the population of New Zealand, and are the largest Asian ethnic group in New Zealand, accounting for 36.3% of Asian New Zealanders.
Indian New Zealanders are people of Indian origin or descent who live in New Zealand. The term includes Indians born in New Zealand, as well as immigrants from India, Fiji, other regions of Asia, parts of Africa such as South Africa and East Africa, and from other parts of the world. The term Indian New Zealander applies to any New Zealander with one or both parents of Indian heritage. Although sometimes the Indo-Kiwi definition has been expanded to people with mixed racial parentage with one Indian parent or grandparent, this can be controversial as it generally tends to remove the ethnic heritage or identity of the foreign parent or grandparent, which may be seen as insensitive to those with mixed parentage, who tend to value both their Indian and non-Indian parents and grandparents.
Korean New Zealanders, also referred to informally as Korean Kiwis, Kokis or Kowis, are New Zealand citizens and residents of Korean ancestry. The 2018 New Zealand census found 35,664 Koreans in the country, virtually all from South Korea, making them the fourth-largest Asian population there, and more than 0.75 percent of the total population of New Zealand.
Filipino New Zealanders refers to New Zealanders who migrated from the Philippines or descendants born in New Zealand of Filipino ancestry.
American New Zealanders are New Zealand citizens who are of American descent of American-born citizens from the United States. American New Zealanders constitute a small minority of New Zealand's population.
Grovetown is a small town in Marlborough, New Zealand. State Highway 1 runs past the settlement to the west, and the Wairau River flows past to the northeast. Spring Creek is about 2.5 km to the north, and Blenheim is about 3.5 km to the south. To the east is Grovetown Lagoon, an oxbow loop of the Wairau River. The settlement had a usual resident population of 357 at the 2018 New Zealand census.
Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori.
Dutch New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Dutch ancestry. Dutch migration to New Zealand dates back to the earliest period of European colonisation. The 2013 census recorded 19,815 people born in the Netherlands and 28,503 people claiming Dutch ethnicity.
The Auckland Region is New Zealand's most populous territorial authority and Auckland its most populous city. In the 2018 census, 1,571,718 persons declared themselves as residents of the region – an increase of 156,178 people or 11.0% since the 2013 census. The Auckland Region accounts for about one-third (33.4%) of New Zealand's population. Auckland has a large multicultural mix, including the largest Polynesian population in the world.
Sri Lankan New Zealanders, also known informally as “Sriwis”, are New Zealanders of Sri Lankan heritage living in New Zealand. This includes at least three Sri Lankan ethnic groups in New Zealand: the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamil and Burghers. Sri Lankans in New Zealand span over 140 years emigration. In 2013 there were 9,579 Sri Lankans in New Zealand and increased to 16,830 by 2018.
Australian New Zealanders refers to New Zealanders whose origins are in Australia, as well as Australian migrants and expatriates based in New Zealand.
German New Zealanders are New Zealand residents of ethnic German ancestry. They comprise a very large amount of New Zealanders in terms of heritage, with some 200,000 people from the country having at least partial German ancestry. New Zealand's community of ethnic German immigrants constitute one of the largest recent European migrant groups in New Zealand, numbering 12,810 in the 2013 census. 36,642 New Zealanders spoke the German language at the 2013 census, making German the seventh-most-spoken language in New Zealand.
Tongan New Zealanders are Tongan immigrants in New Zealand, their descendants, and New Zealanders of Tongan ethnic descent. They constitute one of New Zealand's most sizeable ethnic minorities. In the 2013 census, 60,336 New Zealanders identified themselves as being of Tongan ethnicity with 22,413 stating that they were born in Tonga.
Pasifika New Zealanders are a pan-ethnic group of New Zealanders associated with, and descended from, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands outside of New Zealand itself. They form the fourth-largest ethnic grouping in the country, after European descendants, indigenous Māori, and Asian New Zealanders. Over 380,000 people identify as being of Pacific origin, representing 8% of the country's population, with the majority residing in Auckland.