Immigration-News-0002
New Zealand’s Asian population to exceed the number of indigenous Maoris later this century.
A report published by the Asia New Zealand Foundation, entitled “Asians in New Zealand: Implications of a Changing Demography” predicts that New Zealand’s Asian population will continue to grow as New Zealand’s dependence on the Asian region increases for its economic growth.
April this year saw the signing of a free trade agreement with China, the first bilateral agreement signed by a Western country, is a clear indication of the importance of Asia in New Zealand’s economic growth.
Another major factor in the increase in the growth of the New Zealand Asian population is the opening up of New Zealand immigration to migrants from India and China. The number of people from China and India who are looking at New Zealand immigration will continue to increase.
The report forecasts that the number of Asians in New Zealand will nearly double from 350,000 in 2006 to 790,000 in 2026, while at the same time the Maori population will increase from 565,000 to 820,000. The report concludes that the New Zealand Asian population will grow to exceed the Maori population past 2026.
The report also forecast that the New Zealand born Asian population will increasingly be of mixed ethnicity due to increasing frequency of intermarriage. According to the 2006 Census the New Zealand Asian population was made up of 42 per cent Chinese, 30 per cent Indian and 30 per cent other ethnicities.
The authors of the report concluded that with fewer than 1 million Maoris in the world and more than 4.3 billion Asians, it was inevitable that New Zealand’s indigenous population would be exceeded by New Zealand’s Asian population.
