The information presented in this profile is based on the census usually resident population count. The Tuvaluan population includes those people who stated Tuvaluan as their sole ethnicity or as one of several ethnic groups. The Pacific population refers to all those who stated a Pacific ethnicity.
- In 2001, Tuvaluan people were the seventh largest Pacific ethnic group living in New Zealand, comprising 1,960 people or slightly less than 1 percent of New Zealand’s Pacific population (231,800).
- The largest Pacific ethnic group was the Samoan ethnic group (50 percent), followed by the Cook Island Maori (23 percent), Tongan (18 percent), Niuean (9 percent), Fijian (3 percent) and Tokelauan (3 percent) groups.
- The Tuvaluan population in New Zealand more than doubled between 1991 and 1996 and again between 1996 and 2001, as figure 1.1 illustrates. In 1991, Tuvaluan people resident in New Zealand numbered 430.
Age and sex distribution
- The Tuvaluan population is relatively youthful, as figure 1.2 shows. In 2001, 39 percent of Tuvaluan people were under 15 years of age, compared with 23 percent of the New Zealand population. Three percent of Tuvaluan people were aged 65 years and over, compared with 12 percent of the New Zealand population.
- In 2001, the median age, or midpoint of the Tuvaluan age distribution, was 20.3 years. By comparison, the median ages for the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 21.0 years and 34.8 years respectively.
- Tuvaluan females slightly outnumber Tuvaluan males, making up 53 percent of the Tuvaluan population.
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Place of birth
- Of the seven largest Pacific ethnic groups in New Zealand, the Tuvaluan population has the highest proportion of overseas-born people. In 2001, Tuvaluan people born overseas (1,400) accounted for 72 percent of the Tuvaluan population in New Zealand, up from 64 percent in 1996.
- In 2001, 70 percent of overseas-born Tuvaluan people in New Zealand gave Tuvalu as their birthplace.
- The overseas-born Tuvaluan population grew more quickly than the New Zealand-born Tuvaluan population between 1996 and 2001 – increasing by 150 percent and 77 percent respectively.
- Fifty-six percent of the overseas-born Tuvaluan population had been living in New Zealand for less than five years at the time of the 2001 Census. By comparison, 7 percent of the overseas-born Tuvaluan population had been resident in New Zealand for more than 20 years.
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Geographical distribution
- In 2001, 96 percent of the Tuvaluan population lived in the main urban areas (populations of 30,000 or more).
- The majority (81 percent) of Tuvaluan people resided in the Auckland urban area, with the greatest concentration being in western Auckland (58 percent of Tuvaluan people in 2001).
- Outside of Auckland, the next largest concentration of Tuvaluan people was in the Wellington urban area (9 percent in 2001).
