Asian New Zealanders are New Zealanders of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n ancestry (including

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

New Zealanders who are immigrants from specific regions in

and descendants of such immigrants).

Terminology

In the New Zealand census, the term refers to a pan-ethnic group that includes diverse populations who have ancestral origins in East Asia (e.g. Chinese New Zealanders, Korean New Zealanders, Japanese New Zealanders), Southeast Asia (e.g. Filipino New Zealanders, Vietnamese New Zealanders,

Malaysian New Zealanders Malaysian New Zealanders are New Zealand citizens and residents who are of Malaysian descent or Malaysian-born immigrants. As of 2018, approximately 17,464 Malaysian-born people lived in New Zealand, with a much higher number of New Zealander ...

), and South Asia (e.g.

Nepalese New Zealanders Nepalese New Zealanders or Nepali New Zealanders are citizens or permanent residents of New Zealand whose ethnic origins are fully or partially in Nepal. Immigrants Many Nepalese New Zealanders work in the dairy industry while there are other ...

Indian New Zealanders Indian New Zealanders are persons of Indian origin or descent, living in New Zealand. The term includes Indians born in New Zealand, as well as immigrants from India, Fiji, as well as other regions of Asia, parts of Africa such as South Africa ...

, Sri Lankan New Zealanders, Bangladeshi New Zealanders,

Pakistani New Zealanders Pakistani New Zealanders, also known as Pakistani Kiwis, are New Zealanders of Pakistani descent or Pakistan-born people who have immigrated to New Zealand. Demographics According to 2001 statistics, Pakistani Kiwis size around a population of ...

). Notably, New Zealanders of

West Asian Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes An ...

and

Central Asian Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the form ...

ancestry are excluded from this term. Colloquial usage of ''Asian'' in New Zealand excludes Indians and other peoples of South Asian descent. ''Asian'' as used by Statistics New Zealand includes South Asian ethnic group. The first Asians in New Zealand were Chinese workers who migrated to New Zealand to work in the gold mines in the 1860s. The modern period of Asian immigration began in the 1970s when New Zealand relaxed its restrictive policies to attract migrants from Asia. At the 2013 census, 471,708 New Zealanders declared that they had an Asian ancestral background. This represents about 12% of all responses. Most Asian New Zealanders live in the Auckland Region.

Demographics

There were 718,995 people identifying as being part of the Asian ethnic group at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

, making up 15.3% of New Zealand's population. This is an increase of 235,890 people (50.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 353,046 people (99.6%) since the 2006 census. Some of the increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was due to Statistics New Zealand adding ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to the 2018 census data to reduce the number of non-responses. There were 348,948 males and 358,650 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.973 males per female. The median was 31.3 years, compared to 37.4 years for all New Zealanders; 143,691 people (20.3%) were aged under 15 years, 188,235 (26.6%) were 15 to 29, 330,210 (46.7%) were 30 to 64, and 45,462 (6.4%) were 65 or older. At the 2018 census, 23.0% of the Asian ethnic group was born in New Zealand, up from 22.7% at the 2013 census and 20.0% at the 2006 census. Of those born in New Zealand, 64.6% were under the age of 15. In terms of population distribution, 62.6% of Asian people live in the Auckland region, 23.9% live in the North Island outside the Auckland region, and 13.8% live in the South Island. The Puketāpaka local board area of Auckland has the highest concentration of Asian people at 49.1%, followed by the

Howick local board area Howick may refer to: Places *Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa **Howick Falls * Howick, Lancashire, a small hamlet (Howick Cross) and former civil parish in England *Howick, New Zealand ** Howick Historical Village ** Howick (New Zealand elec ...

(46.5%) and the Whau local board area (40.3%). Hamilton City has the highest concentration of Asian people outside Auckland at 18.5%. The

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about t ...

had the lowest concentration of Asian people at 0.9%, followed by Great Barrier Island (1.6%) and the Rangitīkei District (2.1%). Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Korean are the most commonly nominated Asian ancestries in New Zealand. Chinese New Zealanders were 4 percent of the New Zealand population (2013) and Indian New Zealanders were 3 percent of the New Zealand population (2013). Between the 2001 and 2013 censuses, the proportion of the New Zealand population born in Asia almost doubled in size from 6.6% in 2001 to 11.8% in 2013. Some cities have seen a sharper increase in Asian born population, such as Auckland where 23% of all residents were Asian in 2013.

Social and political issues

Immigration

The political party

New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Win ...

has frequently criticised immigration on economic, social and cultural grounds. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has on several occasions characterised the rate of Asian immigration into New Zealand as too high; in 2004, he stated: "We are being dragged into the status of an Asian colony and it is time that New Zealanders were placed first in their own country." On 26 April 2005, he said: "

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

will be disturbed to know that in 17 years' time they will be outnumbered by Asians in New Zealand", an estimate disputed by Statistics New Zealand, the government's statistics bureau. Peters quickly responded that Statistics New Zealand had underestimated the growth-rate of the Asian community in the past. In April 2008, deputy New Zealand First party leader Peter Brown drew widespread attention after voicing similar views and expressing concern at the increase in New Zealand's ethnic Asian population: "We are going to flood this country with Asian people with no idea what we are going to do with them when they come here." "The matter is serious. If we continue this open door policy there is real danger we will be inundated with people who have no intention of integrating into our society. The greater the number, the greater the risk. They will form their own mini-societies to the detriment of integration and that will lead to division, friction and resentment."

Race-based discrimination and violence

Asians, specifically Chinese New Zealanders and others of

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

n origin, were repeatedly met with discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese New Zealander MP

Raymond Huo Raymond Huo (; born 1964) is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2020. He was first elected in as the New Zealand Labour Party's first MP of Chinese descent. He was the third Chinese New Z ...

said there were racial abuse incidents in the country's Chinese community. An online petition to bar people from China from entering the country was signed by more than 18,000 people, most of whom had ostensible contempt for Chinese people in general. In Rolleston,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

, an email was sent to a Chinese-origin student's parent, which reportedly said, "our Kiwi kids don't want to be in the same class with your disgusting virus spreaders."

Mayor of Auckland The Mayor of Auckland is the directly elected head of the Auckland Council, the local government authority for the Auckland Region in New Zealand, which it controls as a unitary authority. The position exists since October 2010 after the amalg ...

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 N ...

said he was "sickened" by the reports of Asian-origin people being racially targeted at swimming pools, public transport and restaurants.

References

External links

Stats NZ site
{{Immigration to New Zealand