Demographics of New Zealand

Demographics of New Zealand
Population pyramid of New Zealand in 2023
Population5,338,500
 • Year2023 (Stats NZ estimate)
Density19.9/km2 (51.5/sq mi)
Growth rate2.1% (Stats NZ projection)[1]
Birth rate11.4 per 1000 pop. (2022)
Death rate5.5 per 1000 pop. (2022)
Life expectancy
 • male80.3 years[2]
 • female83.7 years[2]
Fertility rate1.56 births per woman (2023)
Infant mortality rate3.53 per 1000 live births (2023)
Net migration rate14.72 per 1000 pop.[1]
Age structure
0–14 years19.6%[1]
15–64 years65.5%[1]
65 and over14.9%[1]
Sex ratio
Total0.97 males/female[1]
Under 151.05 males/female[1]
15–64 years0.97 males/female[1]
65 and over0.87 males/female[1]
Nationality
NationalityNew Zealander
Major ethnicEuropean 67.8%[3]
Minor ethnic
[n 1][4]
Language
Official
Spoken
[5]

The demographics of New Zealand encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 5.3 million[6] 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 (near Auckland) is easily the most populated smaller island with 9,140 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.

As at the 2018 census, the majority of New Zealand's population of European descent (70 percent; often referred to as Pākehā), with the indigenous Māori being the largest minority (16.5 percent), followed by Asians (15.3 percent), and non-Māori Pacific Islanders known collectively as Pasifika (9.0 percent).[4] This is reflected in immigration, 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 Pasifika, and 2.3 percent as Middle Eastern, Latin American or African (MELAA).[7] New Zealand is considered by some to be unique among Western countries for its high levels of ethnic intermarriage,[8] which has historically been viewed with tolerance.[9][10][8] According to a 2006 study, Māori have on average roughly 43% European ancestry, although the notion of being "mixed-race" is uncommon.[11][12]

English, Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language are the official languages, with English being predominant and understood by the vast majority of Māori speakers. Significant minorities speak Chinese, Samoan, Hindi, French, and Tagalog. New Zealand English is mostly non-rhotic, but has distinct rhotic dialects as well. Rhoticity is widespread among Pasifika and Māori and is becoming increasingly common across the upper North Island.[13] The closest English dialect to non-rhotic New Zealand English is Australian English, but they have several key distinctions, such as the New Zealand centralisation 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 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, with Hinduism and Buddhism being the largest minority religions; almost half of the population (48.5 percent) is irreligious.[4]

Farming 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$848.[14]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "National Population Estimates: At 30 June 2016". Statistics New Zealand. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Life expectancy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Census 2023 data: What the first results reveal". Radio New Zealand. 29 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "2018 Census totals by topic" (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet). Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference SpokenLanguage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "National population estimates: At 31 March 2024 (2018-base)". Stats NZ. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  7. ^ "2018 Census population and dwelling counts | Stats NZ". www.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  8. ^ a b "More Kiwis saying 'I do' to intermarriage". NZ Herald. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  9. ^ Matters of the Heart: A History of Interracial Marriage in New Zealand.
  10. ^ "Intermarriage in colonial society – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand".
  11. ^ "Research shows Maori at least 43 per cent pakeha". NZ Herald. 15 October 2006. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  12. ^ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268285485_Ethnic_Intermarriage_in_New_Zealand"One might argue that a Maori  and Maori-European  union  is endogamous  –  that  is  within-group  -  mostly because of  the historical  New Zealand convention  of seeing  “half-castes” more as Maori  than  as  European.  Because  of  this  complexity  a  clear  definition  of  ethnic intermarriage is not  offered."
  13. ^ "The New Zealand accent explained". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Labour market statistics (income): June 2022 quarter | Stats NZ". www.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2022.


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