People born overseas

Overseas-born people make up an increasing proportion of the New Zealand population. At the time of the 2006 Census there were 879,500 overseas-born people living in New Zealand, making up 23 percent of the country’s population compared with 19 percent in 2001 and 18 percent in 1996.

The composition of New Zealand’s overseas-born population is also changing, reflecting the changes in New Zealand’s immigration patterns. The United Kingdom and Ireland – historically the major sources of New Zealand’s immigrants – still account for the largest share of New Zealand’s overseas-born population, but at 29 percent in 2006 this was considerably lower than the 1996 figure of 38 percent. Over the same period there were also falls in the proportion of overseas-born residents who were born in Australia, the Pacific Islands and the other countries of North-West Europe.

The largest growth was in the North-East Asia category. This was mainly because of an increase in the number of people born in the People’s Republic of China, from 19,500 to 78,100 between 1996 and 2006. The Southern and Central Asia category also increased markedly, reflecting a more-than-threefold increase in the Indian-born population from 12,800 to 43,300. The largest proportionate increase was in the sub-Saharan Africa group, largely the result of an almost fourfold increase in the South African born population, from 11,300 to 41,700.

Table P1 Birthplaces of the overseas-born population, 1996 and 2006

	Census year
	1996		2006
Birthplace	Number	%	Number	%
Australia	54,711	9.0	62,742	7.1
Pacific Islands	99,258	16.4	135,852	15.4
United Kingdom and Ireland	230,049	38.0	251,688	28.6
North-West Europe	39,168	6.5	44,103	5.0
Southern and Eastern Europe	16,431	2.7	23,964	2.7
North Africa and the Middle East	7,245	1.2	16,533	1.9
South-East Asia	37,332	6.2	58,266	6.6
North-East Asia	61,179	10.1	135,168	15.4
Southern and Central Asia	19,410	3.2	57,699	6.6
The Americas	22,629	3.7	34,383	3.9
Sub-Saharan Africa	17,439	2.9	59,118	6.7
Total with overseas birthplace specified	604,851	100.0	879,516	100.0

Source: Statistics New Zealand (2007c) Table 7

Significant proportions of New Zealand’s immigrant population are relatively recent arrivals in the country. In 2006, almost a third (32 percent) of overseas-born residents had lived here for less than five years, while a further 17 percent had lived here for between five and nine years.

New Zealand’s immigrant population is disproportionately concentrated in the Auckland region. In 2006, over half (52 percent) of the overseas-born population lived in Auckland, which was home to 32 percent of the country’s total population. People born in Pacific and Asian countries had particularly high concentrations in Auckland (73 percent and 66 percent respectively). Overseas-born people were under-represented in all other regions with the exception of Wellington, which was home to 11 percent of both the overseas-born and the total populations.

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