QuickStats About Pacific Peoples

Pacific peoples population

The Pacific peoples ethnic group is growing
There were 265,974 people of Pacific ethnicity living in New Zealand at the time of the 2006 Census. This was an increase of:

• 15 percent (34,173 people) since the 2001 Census
• 59 percent (98,904 people) since the 1991 Census.

Note: The Pacific peoples ethnic group population includes all of the people who stated one or more Pacific peoples ethnic groups. Some of these people may also belong to other ethnic groups.

The largest Pacific peoples ethnic group was Samoan.

• There were 131,103 people of Samoan ethnicity, an increase of 14 percent (16,083 people) since the 2001 Census.
• Nearly one in two people of Pacific ethnicity were of Samoan ethnicity.

The next largest groups of Pacific peoples ethnicity were:

• Cook Islands Maori (58,011).
• Tongan (50,478).
• Niuean (22,476).
• Fijian (9,864).
• Tokelauan (6,822).
• Tuvaluan (2,625).

The Fijian ethnic group was the fastest growing Pacific group, up from 7,041 people in 2001 to 9,861 people in 2006 (a 40 percent increase).

The next fastest growing Pacific groups were:

• Tuvaluan, up from 1,968 people in 2001 to 2,625 people in 2006 (a 33 percent increase).
• Tongan, up from 40,719 people in 2001 to 50,478 people in 2006 (a 24 percent increase).

At the time of the 2006 Census, there were 19,272 people of Pacific ethnicity living in New Zealand who had lived overseas five years earlier.