Population Characteristics (Census 96) (1996 Census of Population and Dwellings) - Hot Off The Press
What It's About

On Census night 5 March 1996, there were 1,777,461 males and 1,840,839 females resident in New Zealand, said the Government Statistician Len Cook today when releasing the first details of population characteristics from the census.

Women made up 50.9 per cent of the population and men 49.1 per cent whereas at the 1991 Census women made up 50.7 per cent and men 49.3 per cent.

The median age of the population rose to 32.95 years, up from 31.32 in 1991 and 29.74 in 1986. There were 832,080 people under the age of 15 years and 422,667 people aged 65 years or over. This latter group has risen from 11.3 per cent at the 1991 Census to 11.7 per cent of the resident population at this census.

The Maori population has grown, with 523,374 people identifying with the Maori ethnic group, an increase of 20.4 percent. People claiming Maori descent have also increased in number to 579,714, up 13.4 percent on 1991.

For the first time, languages spoken were counted in the 1996 Census. It was found that there are 153,666 speakers of Maori, and while the majority of New Zealanders speak only one language, there were 1,077 people who speak six or more.

1996 has seen a substantial increase in the number of respondents indicating an Asian country as their place of birth. For example, the number of those born in Korea grew from 801 in 1991 to 12,192 in 1996.

Questions on both fertility and smoking were reintroduced after 15 years' absence. Of women who had had live births, 11 percent had more than four - down from the 14 percent of 1981. Of those women who answered the question in 1996, 31.6 percent reported having no children. There are differences between ethnic groups: 33.0 percent of Maori women reported having no children, 36.8 percent of Pacific Island women, 42.7 percent of Asian women and 30.6 percent for all other women.

A total of 609,297 people said they were regular smokers. Despite the increase in the size of the population, this number is down from the 1981 total of 721,116. Among regular smokers, women outnumber men in the younger age groups.

The total number of people aged 15 years or over who said they were unemployed was 136,506 people or 7.7 percent, with the youngest members of the adult population continuing to predominate - 39.9 percent of this group were aged 15-24 years of age. There were 1,252,776 people in full-time employment, of whom 62 percent were men and 38 percent were women.

Len Cook
GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN
7 May 1997

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Christchurch 0-3-374 8700
Email: info@stats.govt.nz

Published 7 May 1997