Demographics of New Zealand
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Population
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4,086,153 at 13 January 2005, (Statistics New Zealand estimate)
Age structure
- 0-14 years: 21.8% (male 455,100; female 430,550)
- 15-64 years: 66.2% (male 1,324,850; female 1,358,870)
- 65 years and over: 12.0% (male 214,270; female 270,570) (2004 est.)
Average age
Total: 33.1 years
- male: 32.4 years
- female: 33.9 years (2002)
Population growth rate
1.4% (March 2004 Year 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: 80.44 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%
- 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; i.e. some may claim to be part of a given denomination but may not be a practicing follower. 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, choose not to answer this question for various reasons.
The following information is a direct citation from Statistics New Zealand
Statistics on religion record New Zealanders' religious affiliations.
- More than half the population affiliate with a Christian religion (2,079,017), of which Anglican (584,793 or 17 percent of people), Catholic (486,012 or 14 percent) and Presbyterian (417,453 or 11 percent) are the largest denominations.
- The largest non-Christian religions are Buddhist, Hindu, Islam/Muslim, and Spiritualism and New Age religions.
- The number of people who choose not to record a religious affiliation is also counted.
According to Statistics New Zealand (Results of 2001 Census) 3,442,020 participated in answering the Religion portion of the 2001 census:
- Christian: 2,079,017
- General Protestant: 119,790
- Anglican: 580,641
- Presbyterian: 428,754
- Methodist: 119,790
- Pentecostal: 66,885
- Baptist: 51,168
- Latter Day Saints: 39,636
- Roman Catholic: 482,190
- Christian NFD: 190,164
- Maori Christianity: 645 (denominations not started by Western missions or agencies)
- Ratana: 48,543
- Ringatu: 15,102
- General Protestant: 119,790
- Non-religious: 1,021,908
- Buddhist: 41,106
- Hindu: 39,627
- Islam: 23,202
- Jewish: 6,516
- Other Religions: 18,486
- Objected to answering question: 235,212
Data also collected in the Census:
- Changes since previous censuses:
- There has been an increase in people whose religion is non-Christian:
- Hinduism increased 56% since the 1996 Census.
- Buddhism increased 48% since the 1996 Census.
- Islam increased 74% since the 1996 Census.
- Spiritualism increased 64% since the 1996 Census.
- The number of Roman Catholics increased by 12,900 between 1996 and 2001, while the the two other largest denominations incurred decreases; Anglicans (-46,971) and Presbyterians (-38,895).
- The count of Anglicans exceeded that of the other denominations in all regions except Auckland (where Catholics were the largest denomination) and Otago and Southland (where the Presbyterian group was the largest).
- The main denominations in the 1901 Census were Church of England/Anglican (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. This number has greatly increased in 100 years - almost 4 out of 10 people did not specify a religious affiliation in the 2001 Census.
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).