New Zealand's population growth has slowed down with low fertility and the pandemic's effect on immigration to blame, new data has found.
However, the Māori population continues to surge with one in five Kiwis identifying as Māori in 2023.
The 2023 Census data, released on Tuesday, shows Aotearoa New Zealand's population has grown by almost 300,000 people in five years - with 4.99 million people living in the country during the Census 2023 period. The Census residential population count is lower than the estimated resident population produced regularly by Stats NZ, with the latest estimate at 5.34 million people.
"Population growth slowed to 6.3 percent between Censuses, down from the 10.8 percent growth rate (totalling 457,707 people) between the 2013 and 2019 Censuses," Stats NZ said.
Principal analyst at Census Insights Rosemary Goodyear said the closure of New Zealand's international boarders due to COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the slower population growth, as well as low fertility rates.
In 2012, the country was sitting at 2.1 births per woman but, by 2017, New Zealand had sharply dropped.
The fertility rate shows the average number of babies women would have in their life. The replacement rate in New Zealand is 2.1, which is the number of children a pair would have to have in order to replace themselves.
In countries with high infant and child mortality rates, the replacement level is much higher.
Last year, the total fertility rate decreased to 1.56 births per woman, from 1.66 in 2022, 1.64 in 2021 and 1.61 in 2020.
The Census is held every five years and provides an official count of people and dwellings in Aotearoa New Zealand. It also collects other demographic data such as income levels, ethnicity and household size.
It found one in three people lived in the North Island and one in three people (roughly 1.66 million) lived in Auckland in 2023. Despite this, the South Island had the fastest growing population between 2018 and 2023 - with 7.3 percent growth, compared to 5.9 percent in the North Island.
Selwyn and Queenstown-Lakes district continued to be the fasted growing territorial authorities in New Zealand. All territorial authorities (cities and districts) saw growth in their population, except Wellington city and the Chatham Islands.
While all regions saw growth in population, the population growth for the Auckland region more than halved to 5.4 percent. Population growth was slowest in Wellington and Southland.
A more ethnically diverse country
The ethnic population of New Zealand has continued to diversify.
One in five people (19.6 percent) were of Māori decent in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2023, the Census found.
There was a 12.5 percent (108,396 people) increase in Māori descent Census population to nearly 1 million people.
People of European ethnicity made up the majority of the population in 2023 (67.8 percent).
"Māori, Asian, Pacific peoples and Middle Eastern/Latin American/African (MELAA) ethnic groups grew significantly faster than the European ethnic group, and accounted for 17.8 percent, 17.3 percent, 8.9 percent, nd 1.9 percent respectively of the total population in 2023 (with some people identifying with more than once ethnicity)," Stats NZ said.
Analysts expect the Māori population to reach more than 1 million by the next Census.
An ageing population
The Census data found the population of New Zealand continued to age, with the median age rising to 38.1 years last year, compared with 37.4 years in 2018.
Auckland and Gisborne had the youngest median age (35.9 and 36.7 years respectively), while West Coast and Tasman had the oldest median age (48.1 and 46.8 years).
While there was an overall increase in median age, Stats NZ said three regions are trending towards a younger population. These are Hawke's Bay, Gisborne and Bay of Plenty - all recording decreases in median age.
The data also found Māori are significantly younger in comparison to New Zealand's total population.
Nearly one in three under 25-year-olds identify as Māori.
Te Kāhui Raraunga Pou Arahi/Aho Tapu, Kirikowhai Mikaere said the new data highlights a "transformative shift in the makeup of Aotearoa".
"What the 2023 Census data shows us in that our Māori population is young, resilient and rapidly growing," Mikaere said.
"This would suggest that we will see Māori become a dominant part of the future workforce of Aotearoa, enhancing diversity, promoting new ideas and stimulating creative solutions across industries."
Mikaere said the data reinforces the importance of social investment that directly benefits Māori, as their youthful population will play a crucial role in the country's growth and advancement.
"All of Aotearoa will prosper if we ensure Māori have the resources and opportunities to reach our full potential and drive progress as a country."
The published results for the 2023 Census include combined data from census responses gathered across the country between February 13 and June 30 2023, and government administrative data for census usually residential population counts, and admin data, historical census data, and statistical methods for census variables (Māori descent, age and ethnicity).
