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PACIFIC POPULATION - NEW ZEALAND MIGRATION |
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By Sandra Kailahi |
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The
face of New Zealand's population is changing and has increasingly become
browner over the years.
One
in sixteen people in New Zealand are Pacific Island, which equates to
around 231, 801 people in total. That's according to the 2001 Census and
the latest finding of Statistics New Zealand.
If
you break that figure down even more, it shows that 1 in 2 people are
Samoan an increase of 34 percent since the 1991 Census.
When
it comes to location, the majority of Pacific people or around 66 percent
lives in the Auckland region. If you break that down further, Manukau
City has the highest Pacific population with 1 in 4 people being of Pacific
descent. Auckland City (1 in 7) has the next largest population followed
by Waitakere City (1 in 7) and Porirua City (1 in 4) in Wellington.
It would seem that Auckland appeals to many of the communities.
Eighty percent
of all Tongans and Niueans live in the City of Sails
compared to just under 70
percent of all Samoans. Around 60 percent of all Cook Island
Maori and Fijians live in Auckland while 50 percent of all Tokelauan people
live in the Wellington region.
Religion
is very important to many Pacific communities. The most common religious
denomination for Pacific people is Presbyterian. This is followed by Catholic
and then Methodist. However, Catholic was the most common religious denomination
for people of Samoan, Fijian and Tokelauan ethnicity.
The Pacific population is a young one with the median age of people being
21 years, a rise from 20 years at the
time of the 1991 Census. While nearly2 in 5 people of Pacific ancestry were aged
under 15 years, 3 percent were aged 65 years and over.
The majority of pacific people in this country were actually born here. It was also noted in the 2001 Census that 60 percent or 6 in 10 pacific people were born in New Zealand.
Niueans and Cook Islanders are New Zealand citizens but what was
interesting in the Census findings was that more of them were born in New
Zealand than in their own countries. The findings show that 70 percent
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Tokelau Island population estimate 1,500. |
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Cooks Islands population estimate 19,300. |
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Tonga Island population estimate 99,400. |
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of Cook Island Maori and Niuean ethnicity were born in New Zealand compared with 3 in 10 people of Tuvalu Islander ethnicity.
However, it must be noted that the count of people of Tuvalu Islander ancestry more than quadrupled between the 1991 and 2001 Censuses, while there was a 75 percent increase in the country of people of Tongan descent.
The pacific elderly population is increasing. The count of Pacific people aged 65 years and over doubled between 1991 and 2001. There were 97.0 males for every 100 females in 2001 compared with 97.3 in 1991.
However, in the Tongan community, there were 101 males for every 100 females.
When it comes to education, 1 in 6 pacific people had a tertiary qualification as their highest qualification. Fijians appear to be more inclined to gain a tertiary education than the other communities. In fact 3 in 10 adults listed a tertiary qualification as their highest qualification.
Nearly 2 in 3 adults were in the Labour force. The most common jobs were plant and machine operators and assemblers followed by service and sales workers and then clerks.
The median annual income for adults of Pacific ethnicity was $14,800 NZD. The Census takes place every five years so the next one will take place in 2006.
For
more information on the 2001 Census you can go Statistics New Zealand
website www.stats.govt.nz
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd. 2004
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