New Zealand's Asian population is expected to increase dramatically over the next few years, according to the latest data from Statistics New Zealand.
The Asian ethnic group is expected to increase from 16 percent of the population in 2018 to 26 percent by 2043.
According to the data published on Friday, Aotearoa's total population could reach 6 million in 20-30 years.
"While all ethnic group populations are expected to grow over the next two decades, the broad European ethnic group is projected to have the slowest growth," population estimates and projections manager Hamish Slack says.
"Different growth rates between ethnic groups reflect different rates of birth, death, and migration."
The Asian and Māori ethnic group populations are both expected to surpass one million, in 2024-2027 and 2028-2032.
Stats NZ says while the Asian population growth is driven by migration, the Māori population growth is driven by above-average birth rates combined with a young age structure.
The individual ethnic groups within the broad Asian population group, such as Chinese and Indian, are estimated to remain significantly smaller than the Māori population group.
