New Zealand’s Asian population is now larger than the ethnic Maori population, and those of European background alone are just over 50%, new official statistics show.
Stats NZ revealed this week that the estimated resident population as of December 31, 2024, was 5,311,100. This figure is higher than the “census usually resident population” of 4,993,923 as it also includes residents who were overseas at the time of the count, net census undercount, and increases since the census.
According to the new figures, the Asian ethnic population was 973,700 after increasing by an average of 4.8% per year since 2018, overtaking Maoris on 911,200 with their much lower growth rate of 2.2%.
The Asian category includes Chinese, Indians, Southeast Asians and other, and in 1996 they numbered only 194,800.
The Pacific ethnic population increased 2.6% per year to 464,200, the Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African (MELAA) ethnic population grew by 6.1% per year to 103,700, and the “European or other” ethnic population increased by just 0.3% to 3,493,800.
“Natural increase has been a steady contributor to population growth historically, but it has declined over the last decade as the population ages,” spokesperson Victoria Treliving said.
“In contrast, net migration has been the main contributor to New Zealand’s population growth over the last decade but has fluctuated widely.”
People who belong to more than one ethnic group are included in the counts of each group they belong to, Stats NZ said, adding that the mixed race population had grown from roughly 11.1% to 12.5% between the last two censuses.
“There are more people in the country who identify with multiple ethnicities, with 1 in 8 people in 2023 belonging to more than one of the major ethnic groups compared with 1 in 9 in 2018,” Ms Treliving said.
“Younger people are also more likely to have multiple ethnicities, with a reason for this including an increased number of children having parents with different ethnicities.”
The estimated resident population information released on Wednesday did not include detailed breakdowns by ethnicity, but previously released Census data showed that the “European only” population was 2,790,354, or 55.9%, at the time of the 2023 Census.
This is down from 59.8% in 2018, and 61.4% in 2013. In 1996 the percentage of Europeans was 82.4%, falling to 79.2% in 2001, and 76.7% in 2006.
Header image: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wears a Sikh headdress with India’s Narendra Modi in March (Facebook).
