New Zealand's Growing Mission Field
The ethnic make-up of New Zealand is rapidly changing. It's exciting to hear so many different languages being spoken in the streets. There's a whole new mission field growing on our doorstep and it's providing new challenges for OMF in New Zealand.
We have compiled some statistics on the Asian population taken from the 2006 Census (Statistics New Zealand). Projections show continued steady growth, and show that we must begin to seriously strategise for outreach.
New zealand's increasing ethnic diversity - 2006 census
Ethnic groups in New Zealand (2006 Census)
- New Zealand's ethnic make-up has continued to change according to 2006 Census results.
- Of the major ethnic groups in NZ, the Asian ethnic group grew the fastest between 2001 and 2006, increasing from 238,176 people in 2001 to reach 354,552 people in 2006 (an increase of almost 50 percent).
Asia
- The Asian ethnic group was New Zealand's fourth largest major ethnic group totalling 354,552 people (9.2 percent) in 2006.
- Two-thirds of people (66.1 percent or 234,222 people) who identified with one or more Asian ethnic group(s) usually lived in the Auckland Region.
- In the five years from 2001-2006, the Chinese population in NZ has increased by over 40%. With the number of Koreans increasing 61.8%, Filipino 52.7%, Japanese 18.8% and Cambodian 31.3%.
- New Zealand's changing ethnic composition and the impact of migration within the five years between 2001 and 2006 was reflected in the increasing diversity of languages spoken. Between 2001 and 2006, the number of people able to speak Northern Chinese (Mandarin) increased from 26,514 to 41,391and the number of people able to speak Korean increased from 15,873 to 26,967.
Christian Religion
- In the 2006 Census, just over 2 million people, or 55.6 percent of those answering the religious affiliation question, affiliated with a Christian religion. This compares with the 2001 Census, when 60.6 percent of people affiliated with a Christian religion.
Other Religions
- In contrast with the small decrease in people affiliating with Christian religions between 2001 and 2006, there was an increase in people affiliating with non-Christian religions.
- The number of people indicating an affiliation with Hinduism increased by 61.8% from 39,798 in 2001 to 64,392 in 2006, with Islam up 52.6% from 23,631 in 2001 to 36,072 in 2006.
- The increases in people affiliating with these non-Christian religions is mainly attributed to migrants, particularly from Asia.
All statistics thanks to Statistics New Zealand (www.stats.govt.nz)