Demographics of New Zealand - Ethnicity

Ethnicity

See also: List of ethnic origins of New Zealanders

New Zealand is a multiethnic society, and home to people of many different national origins. Originally comprising solely of the indigenous Māori, the ethnic makeup of the population has been dominated since the 19th century by New Zealanders of European descent. Most are of British and Irish ancestry, with smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as French, Dutch, Scandinavian and Other major ethnic groups include Asian (9.2 percent) and Pacific peoples (6.9 percent), while 11.1 percent identified themselves simply as a "New Zealander" (or similar) and 1 percent identified with other ethnicities. This contrasts with 1961, when the census reported that the population of New Zealand was 92 percent European and 7 percent Māori, with Asian and Pacific minorities sharing the remaining 1 percent.

The largest Māori iwi is Ngapuhi with 122,211 people or 24 percent of the Māori population. The next largest iwi are Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu/ Kāi Tahu, Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato and Tūhoe. A total of 102,366 people of Māori descent did not know their iwi. A group of Māori migrated to the Chatham Islands and developed their distinct Moriori culture. The Moriori population was decimated by Maori from 1835, with only 101 surviving in 1862 and the last known full-blooded Moriori dying in 1933. People identifying as having Moriori descents have increased in number in recent years, from 105 in 1991 to 945 in 2006.

Auckland is the most ethnically diverse region in New Zealand with 56.5 percent identifying as Europeans, 18.9 percent as Asian, 11.1 percent as Māori and 14.4 percent as other Pacific Islanders. Recent increases in interracial marriages has resulted in the New Zealand population of Māori, Asian and Pacific Islander descent growing at a higher rate than those of European descent. In 2006 10.4 percent of people, identified with more than one ethnic group in 2006, compared with 9.0 percent in 2001. The ethnic diversity of New Zealand is projected to increase. Europeans (including "New Zealanders") will remain the largest group, although it is predicted to fall to 70 percent in 2026. The Asian, Pacific and Māori groups are the fastest growing and will increase to 3.4 percent, 10 percent and 16 percent respectively. The ethnicity of the population aged under 18 years at 30 June 2006 was 72 percent European, 24 percent Māori, 12 percent Pacific and 10 percent Asian. The population aged 65 years or older consited of 91 percent European, 5 percent Māori, 4 percent Asian and 2 percent Pacific.

Asians Pacific Islanders Population distribution of the Māori, Asian and Pacific Island ethnic groups in New Zealand as recorded by the 2006 census. Darker colouring indicates a high