Hinduism in New Zealand

New Zealand Hindus

Jeetan Patel, New Zealand Cricketer of Indian Descent.
Total population
89,391 (2013) 2.11% of the New Zealand Population
Regions with significant populations
Auckland · Wellington · Hamilton · Tauranga
Languages
English · Hindi · Punjabi · Gujarati · Tamil · Telugu · Indian Languages

Hinduism is the second largest religion in New Zealand after Christianity, with over 89,000 adherents according to the 2013 Census. The number of Hindus in New Zealand grew modestly until the 1990s when the Immigration Act 1987, the Immigration Amendment Act 1991 and India's Economic Liberalisation in 1991 changed immigration laws and India's standard of living. The eased immigration laws resulted in the number of Hindus growing from 18,000 in 1991 to 40,000 in 2001. Hinduism currently makes up 2.1% of the New Zealand population, and is the fast growing religion in the country(for religions with more than 20,000 adherents).

In the 1991 Census, surging migration as a result of the Immigration Act 1987 made the number of Hindus surpass 17,000.India's Economic Liberalisation occurred in the same year, increasing the standard of living and ensuring more immigrants will come in the future. The 1996 New Zealand Census showed the number of Hindus surpass 25,000. This was largely due to the continued success of the Immigration Act 1987.

In the 2001 Census, the population of Hindus was at almost 40 000, meaning that the number of Hindus tripled in the 10 years since the 1991 census. The 2006 census showed the number of Hindus to be 64,557, an increase of nearly 62% from the previous census in 2001. The growth of the number of Hindus in New Zealand then slowed in the years between the 2006 Census and the 2013 Census because of a mixture of events. the heightened violence against Indian Australians(2007-2010) and the 2011 Christchurch earthquake were the main reasons why growth of Hindus declined. The latter was also the main reason why the Census year was moved from 2011 to 2013. The slowdown in long term migration was partially offset by soaring numbers of Indian Students and Skilled Migrants, whose numbers increased rapidly during the Great Recession partly due to costs being cheaper and a better economic outlook. The recently conducted 2013 Census showed the Hindu population made up slightly over 2% of the population, with 90,018 adherents. This increased Hinduism's share of the total New Zealand population by 0.5% despite immigration slowing as a result of the events mentioned earlier.

For more detailed analysis, see Religion in New Zealand