Historical context
People of Pacific ethnicities have a long history of settlement in New Zealand, and ongoing migration from the Pacific, which started several centuries earlier with the first flows from Polynesia. Several waves of migration occurred from various parts of the Pacific throughout the last century and a half, with significant periods of immigration during the 1960s and 1970s. Pacific people in New Zealand are now a diverse group with ancestral links to many parts of the Pacific. The communities have settled throughout New Zealand but prefer to live in particular areas, such as South Auckland. The majority are New Zealand-born.
How many Pacific people moved?
More than 47 percent of people of Pacific ethnicities have moved within New Zealand between 2001 and 2006.
In 2006, there were 266,000 people who identified with one or more ethnicities in the Pacific ethnic grouping. Of these, 255,000 people told us where they had lived 5 years earlier at the time of the 2001 Census.
Table 1
People of Pacific ethnicities
By address five years ago
2006 Census |
|
Number of people of Pacific ethnicities |
| Male |
Female |
Total |
| Same as usual residence |
46,461 |
50,283 |
96,744 |
| Elsewhere in New Zealand or no fixed abode |
50,790 |
52,541 |
103,332 |
| Not born five years ago |
17,916 |
16,932 |
34,848 |
| Overseas |
9,657 |
9,615 |
19,272 |
| Not stated |
6,186 |
5,589 |
11,775 |
| Total |
131,010 |
134,964 |
265,974 |
Among the people aged five years and over who gave us this information, 47 percent had moved at least once in NZ within the previous five years, 44 percent had not moved and 9 percent had arrived or returned from overseas.
People of Pacific ethnicities are increasingly mobile, though remain less mobile than either their Māori or Asian counterparts.
Table 2
People of Pacific ethnicities
Percentage distribution by address five years ago
1986–2006 Censuses |
|
Census year |
| Address five years ago |
1986 |
1991 |
1996 |
2001 |
2006 |
|
Percent of Pacific population |
| Same as usual residence |
52.7 |
47.0 |
48.4 |
43.4 |
44.1 |
| Elsewhere in New Zealand |
34.6 |
40.8 |
43.1 |
45.7 |
47.1 |
| Overseas |
12.7 |
12.2 |
8.6 |
10.9 |
8.8 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Percent of Pacific internal migrants |
| Stayers |
60.3 |
53.6 |
52.9 |
46.1 |
48.4 |
| Movers within New Zealand |
39.7 |
46.6 |
47.1 |
53.9 |
51.6 |
| Total internal migrants |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |