2018 New Zealand census


The 2018 New Zealand census was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 over the 2013 census.
Results from the 2018 census were released to the public on 23 September 2019, from the Statistics New Zealand website. The next New Zealand census is set to be held in March 2023.

History

Background

The Census Act 1877 required censuses to be held every fifth year and is well embedded in legislation and government systems. Since 1881, censuses have been held every five years, with the exceptions of those in 1931 and 1941 and the one in 2011 which was cancelled due to the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, which displaced many Canterbury residents from their homes only a few weeks before census day. It was rescheduled for March 2013, so the 2013 census is the previous census completed before this one.

Issues and controversies

In July 2018, it was estimated that the 2018 census had a “full or partial” response for 90 percent of individuals, down from 94.5 percent in the 2013 census and the planned release date for census information was changed from October of the same year to March 2019. This drop, which already amounted to the lowest census response rate for fifty years, was blamed on a 'digital-first' policy for the census. An independent review was initiated by the Government Statistician in October 2019, and in November Statistics NZ announced that release of census data would be pushed back to at least April 2019 due to "the complex nature of the task".
In early April 2019, the Government Statistician, Liz MacPherson was facing possible charges of contempt of parliament. She had twice refused, on 13 February and in early April, to disclose the number of partially and fully completed responses. On 9 April, she reported that one in seven New Zealanders, 700,000 people, failed to complete the census.
In July 2019 the independent inquiry returned its findings to the Government Statistician, the Minister of Statistics and the State Services Commissioner, reporting that too little attention had been paid to the non-digital aspects of the census, but also blamed operational complexity and flaws in management. Due to a decision to conduct the census primarily online, the census attracted only an 83% response rate, even lower than the 90% earlier reported, and well short of the 94% census percent target and a nine percent drop from the previous 2013 New Zealand census.
On 13 August 2019 the report was released to the public and Liz MacPherson offered her resignation, taking ultimate responsibility for the results, stating “I'm sorry, the buck stops with me.” State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes agreed with her assessment, and asked MacPherson to remain in her role until Christmas of 2019, noting that “she is the best person to finish the remediation work.”

Topics

The 2018 census collected data on the following topics:
;Population structure:
;Location:
;Culture and identity:
;Education and training:
;Work:
;Income:
;Families and households:
;Housing:
;Transport:
;Health and disability:

Projections

annually conducts population projections for New Zealand as a whole, which are based on data from the previous census and calculated using a cohort-component method. Population projections also take into consideration births, deaths, and net migration.
In 2016, New Zealand's population at the time of the 2018 census was projected to be between 4,807,000 and 4,944,000.

Results

Data uses fixed random rounding to protect confidentiality; each data point is rounded either to the nearest multiple of 3 or the next-nearest multiple of 3.
The census usually-resident population count of New Zealand is a count of all people who usually live in and were present in the country on census night, and excludes overseas visitors and New Zealand residents who are temporarily overseas.
Due to the high rate of non-response in the census, the published results combine answers from census forms with data from the 2013 Census and from government administrative data. Reports from an External Data Quality Review Panel include quality ratings for each variable, taking the added data into account

Population and dwellings

Population counts for regions of New Zealand. All figures are for the census usually-resident population count.
RegionPopulation at 2013 censusPopulation at 2018 censusChangePercent change
Northland151,689179,07627,38718.05
Auckland1,415,5501,571,718156,16811.03
Waikato403,638458,20254,56413.52
Bay of Plenty267,744308,49940,75515.22
Gisborne43,65647,5173,8618.84
Hawke's Bay151,179166,36815,18910.05
Taranaki109,608117,5617,9537.26
Manawatū-Whanganui222,672238,79716,1257.24
Wellington471,315506,81435,4997.53
North Island3,059,4183,594,552535,13417.49
Tasman47,15452,3895,23511.10
Nelson46,43750,8804,4439.57
Marlborough43,41647,3404,0149.25
West Coast32,14831,5755731.78
Canterbury539,436599,69460,25811.17
Otago202,467225,18622,71911.22
Southland93,34297,4674,1254.42
South Island1,004,3971,104,537100,1409.97
Area outside region6006696911.50
New Zealand4,242,0484,699,755457,70718.88

In 2018, 3,370,122 people were born in New Zealand, with 1,329,633 born overseas.
Data is for the census's usually-resident population.

Ethnicity

There was no change in the top five ethnicities between the 2013 and 2018 censuses, which are New Zealand European, Māori, Chinese, Indian, and Samoan.
Data is for the census usually-resident population count.
Ethnic groupPopulation%
European3,372,70871.76
 New Zealand European3,013,44064.12
 English72,2041.54
 South African European37,1550.79
 Australian29,3490.62
 European 34,6320.74
 Dutch29,8200.63
 Scottish18,6270.40
 Irish17,8350.38
 German16,8180.36
 American European16,2450.35
 Other European86,5831.84
Māori775,83616.51
Pacific Islander423,0369.00
 Samoan182,7213.89
 Tongan82,3891.75
 Cook Islands Maori80,5321.71
 Niuean30,8670.66
 Fijian19,7220.42
Asian718,99515.30
 Chinese 231,3874.92
 Indian 221,9164.72
 Filipino72,6121.55
 Korean35,6640.76
 Japanese18,1410.39
 Fijian Indian15,1320.32
 Asian 11,8110.25
 Thai10,6230.23
 Vietnamese10,0860.21
 Other Asian91,6231.95
72,2311.54
 Latin American27,7560.59
 Middle Eastern28,6260.61
 African15,8490.34
Other58,1041.24
 New Zealander 45,3300.96
 Other8,7570.19
 Not listed4,0170.09
Total4,699,755100

Religion

Most New Zealanders, 48.5% of the population, identify as being irreligious.
Data is for the census usually-resident population count.

Language

The vast majority of New Zealanders, 95.4%, speak English; in second place is Māori, with 4.0% of the population being able to speak it.
Data is for the census usually-resident population count.
LanguagePopulation%
English4,482,13595.37
Māori185,9553.96
Samoan101,9372.17
No language 101,7512.17
Northern Chinese95,2532.03
Hindi69,4711.48
French55,1161.17
Yue52,7671.12
Sinitic 51,5011.10
Tagalog43,2780.92
German41,3850.88
Spanish38,8230.83
Afrikaans36,9660.79
Tongan35,8200.76
Panjabi34,2270.73
Korean31,3230.67
Fiji Hindi26,8050.57
Japanese24,8850.53
Dutch23,3430.50
New Zealand Sign Language22,9860.49
Gujarati22,2000.47
Other256,2755.45
Total people4,699,755100
Total responses5,834,166N/A

Māori descent

18.5% of New Zealanders have at least some Māori descent.
Data is for the census usually-resident population count.
Māori descent indicatorPopulation%
Māori descent869,85018.51
No Māori descent3,715,05079.04
Do not know114,8552.44
Total4,699,755100

Age

The largest age group is people aged 25 to 29, who comprise 7.3% of the population.
Data is the census usually-resident population count.

Income

Data is for the census usually-resident population count of people aged 15 years and over.
Income Population%
Loss20,6250.55
Zero income257,3106.81
$1–$5,000210,7055.58
$5,001–$10,000177,4234.70
$10,001–$15,000262,1976.94
$15,001–$20,000375,2829.94
$20,001–$25,000306,6398.12
$25,001–$30,000210,1325.56
$30,001–$35,000186,0874.93
$35,001–$40,000212,7245.63
$40,001–$50,000364,7199.66
$50,001–$60,000309,3758.19
$60,001–$70,000234,6066.21
$70,001–$100,000361,3179.57
$100,001–$150,000176,3104.67
$150,001 or more110,9102.94
Total3,776,355100

Industry of employment

Data is for the census usually-resident population count of employed people aged 15 years and over.
Industry Population%
Agriculture, forestry and fishing143,1275.85
Mining6,0540.25
Manufacturing238,4139.75
Electricity, gas, water and waste services18,0060.74
Construction226,1619.25
Wholesale trade119,9284.90
Retail trade219,1328.96
Accommodation and food services159,7536.53
Transport, postal and warehousing105,1504.30
Information media and telecommunications38,8891.59
Financial and insurance services64,9412.66
Rental, hiring and real estate services49,1222.01
Professional, scientific and technical services242,6199.92
Administrative and support services111,6484.57
Public administration and safety132,2795.41
Education and training198,0188.10
Health care and social assistance232,1199.49
Arts and recreation services44,4661.82
Other services95,2923.90
Total2,445,141100.00

Home ownership

Data is for the census usually-resident population count of people aged 15 years and over.
Individual home ownershipPopulation%
Hold in a family trust350,1369.27
Own or partly own1,310,92534.71
Do not own and do not hold in a family trust1,548,07840.99
Other567,21315.02
Total3,776,355100

Marriage status

Data is for the census usually-resident population count of people aged 15 years and over.
Legally-registered relationship statusPopulation%
Married 1,515,26140.12
Separated93,4082.47
Divorced or dissolved244,8576.48
Widowed or surviving civil union partner166,8694.42
Never married and never in a civil union1,099,72229.12
Other656,23417.38
Total3,776,355100