Median annual income
Includes income from all sources – including income support.
- The Tongan adult population had a median annual income of $11,800 in the year to March 2001. The median annual incomes of the Pacific and New Zealand populations were $14,800 and $18,500 respectively.
- The median annual income of Tongan adults in employment in the week preceding the 2001 Census was $20,700 – equivalent to 75 percent of that of the New Zealand population ($27,700).
- The real median annual income (adjusted for inflation to 2001 dollars) of Tongan people increased by 4 percent from $11,300 in 1991 to $11,800 in 2001. During the same period, the real median annual income of the Pacific population and the New Zealand population increased by 16 percent and 11 percent respectively.
- Overseas-born Tongans had a higher median annual income ($12,200) than Tongans born in New Zealand ($10,500) in 2001, a reflection of their older age structure.
- In 2001, the median annual income of Tongan women was equivalent to 69 percent of that of Tongan men ($9,800 compared with $14,300). The gap between the sexes narrows for those in employment – with the median annual income of employed Tongan women equating to 79 percent of that of employed men ($17,900 compared with $22,800).
- Figure 8.2 shows that Tongan women were proportionately more likely to be in income bands under $20,001, while Tongan men were more likely to be in bands of $20,001 and over.
Income sources
- Wages and salaries were received by 53 percent of Tongan adults in the year to 2001. The equivalent proportions among the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 58 percent and 57 percent respectively, as figure 8.3 shows.
- Income from self-employment or a self-owned business was received by 4 percent of Tongan adults – the same proportion as the Pacific population in 2001. By comparison, 17 percent of the New Zealand population received income from this source.
- Three percent of Tongans received income from interest, dividends, rent or investments in 2001 – a similar level to the Pacific population. Just over a quarter (26 percent) of the New Zealand population received income from these sources in 2001.
- One in three Tongans (33 percent) received some form of income support at some stage during the 12 months prior to the 2001 Census. ‘Income support’ refers to monetary support from the government, excluding ACC payments and New Zealand Superannuation.
- Similar proportions of New Zealand-born and overseas-born Tongans received income support in 2001 – 34 percent and 32 percent respectively. Comparable figures for the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 33 percent and 19 percent respectively.
- Tongan women (38 percent) were more likely to have received income support than Tongan men (28 percent) in 2001.