Asian New Zealanders
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 471,708 (2013) 11.8% of New Zealand population |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| North Island and South Island | |
| Languages | |
| New Zealand English · Asian languages | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism · Christianity · Islam · Hinduism · Sikhism · East Asian religions · Indian religions · other religions |
Asian New Zealanders refers to New Zealanders of Asian ancestry. 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. Vietnamese New Zealanders) and South Asia (e.g. Indian New Zealanders, Pakistani New Zealanders).
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.
Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Korean are the most commonly nominated Asian ancestries in New Zealand. Chinese New Zealanders are 4 percent of the New Zealand population (2013) and Indian New Zealanders are 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 are Asian.
The political party New Zealand First 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 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 rebutted that Statistics New Zealand has underestimated the growth-rate of the Asian community in the past.
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