Demographics of New Zealand.html
 
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This article is about the demographic features of the population of New Zealand, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)

New Zealanders are those people who are inhabitants of New Zealand. The demographics of New Zealand are characterised by a relatively young and growing population and relatively high levels of inbound migration (mainly from the United Kingdom and from Asia and the Pacific) and outbound migration (mainly to Australia and the United Kingdom). The ethnic makeup of the population, originally composed of indigenous Māori only, was dominated by European settlers for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, until immigration from Asia and the Pacific Islands, as well as high Māori birthrates, started to shift this state to a more multi-ethnic mix.

Contents

Population

New Zealand's historical population (black) and projected growth (red)
Map of New Zealand's population density as of the 2006 census

4,143,279 at 7 March 2006, (Statistics New Zealand final 2006 census count)

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.)

In the period of April 2007 to March 2008, the total number of births in New Zealand was 63,250 and the number of deaths was 28,300. The Maximum number of births was 22,960 in Auckland, 7330 in Canterbury, 6730 in Wellington and 6200 in Waikato. 1

Vital statistics

  • Birth rate: 14.31 births/1,000 population (Sept 2006 est.2)
  • Death rate: 6.82 deaths/1,000 population (Sept 2006 est.2).)
  • 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: 0.97 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

2.05 children born/woman (Sept 2006 est..2)

HIV/AIDS

  • Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)
    • People living with HIV/AIDS: 1,400 (2003 est.)
    • HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2001 est.)

Source: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/newzealand_statistics.html#14

Links:

New Zealand Aids Foundation: [1]

Ministry of Health, Aids and HIV Page: [2]

Ethnic groups

The figures below add up to more than the total number of people responding because New Zealand census allowed citizens to specify multiple ethnic identities. The ethnicity question and coding procedures have changed between each of these censuses, meaning that comparisons over time are not straightforward.

Ethnic Group 1996 2001 2006
New Zealander .. .. 429,429
European 2,879,085 2,871,432 2,609,592
Maori 529,371 526,281 565,329
Pacific Peoples 202,233 231,801 265,974
Asian 173,502 238, 176 354,552
Middle Eastern, Latin American or African .. .. 34,743
Other Ethnicity 16,422 24,993 1,491
Total people giving their ethnicity 3,466,587 3,586,731 3,860,163

Source: Table 6, QuickStats National Highlights, 2006 Census [3]

These maps show the percentage of people identifying as Maori, Asians, or Pacific Islanders in the 2006 census. Darker colours indicate a higher percentage.

Maori Asians Pacific Islanders

Religions (2001 Census)

Main article: Religion in New Zealand
The influence of Scottish settlers is reflected in the dominance of Presbyterianism in the Deep South.

The following figures are from the 2001 Census. 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% of people), Catholic (486,012 or 14%) and Presbyterian (417,453 or 11%) 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:

  • 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 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% of people), Presbyterian (23%), Catholic (14%), and Methodist (11%).
  • 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 (2006 Census)

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

Source: Language spoken (total responses) for the census usually resident population count, 2006, Statistics New Zealand.

Those with no language (e.g. too young to talk) and those who gave unusable responses were excluded from these percentages.

Literacy

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

Nationality

  • noun: New Zealander(s)
  • adjective: New Zealander

See also

References

  1. ^ "Births and Deaths: March 2008 quarter" (PDF). Statistics New Zealand (14 May 2008).
  2. ^ a b c "Births and deaths in New Zealand". Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
  3. ^ Perrott, Alan (2002-08-31). "Jedi Order lures 53,000 disciples". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved on 2006-04-05.
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