2018 Census ethnic groups dataset

2018 Census ethnic groups dataset contains counts for the different ethnic groups living in New Zealand. Topics include population, birthplace, ethnicity, health, employment, income, and education.

Ethnicity is the ethnic group or groups a person identifies with or has a sense of belonging to. It is a measure of cultural affiliation (in contrast to race, ancestry, nationality, or citizenship). Each ethnic group includes all those who have identified with it, so people may be counted in more than one group.

Data is available for all ethnic groups with a population of at least 100 people.

The major ethnic groups are:

• European
• Māori 
• Pacific peoples
• Asian
• MELAA (Middle Eastern/Latin American/African)
• Other ethnicity.

For further information about the ethnicity variable, see Ethnicity (information about this variable and its quality) – DataInfo+.

Download data

These tables provide data for ethnic groups at all levels of the ethnicity classification.

2018 Census ethnic groups summaries (updated 14 August 2020) – CSV (zipped file, 2.8MB)
2018 Census ethnic groups summaries (updated 14 August 2020) – Microsoft Excel (zipped file, 13.5MB)

Other 2018 Census data

Use NZ.Stat to view and download 2018 Census data.

2018 Census place summaries – 2018 Census data about New Zealand’s communities.

Latest reports and publications from the 2018 Census – see the latest statistics from the 2018 Census and information about how they are produced.

About the data

2018 Census of Population and Dwellings – DataInfo+ provides information about methods, and related metadata.

2018 Census information by variable and quality – DataInfo+ provides information about the variables and their quality.

Maps

See the 2018 Census map gallery to compare population and dwelling data for the 2018 and 2013 Censuses on interactive maps, including maps to visualise New Zealand’s population density and ethnic diversity.

Census forms

View samples of the paper forms for the 2018 Census:

• Individual form
• Bilingual individual form
• Dwelling form
• Bilingual dwelling form.

Guide notes for the 2018 Census of Population and Dwellings.

About the 2018 Census dataset

We combined data from the census forms with administrative data to create the 2018 Census dataset, which meets Stats NZ’s quality criteria for population structure information.

We added real data about real people to the dataset where we were confident the people should be counted but hadn’t completed a census form. We also used data from the 2013 Census and administrative sources and statistical imputation methods to fill in some missing characteristics of people and dwellings.

Data quality for 2018 Census provides more information on the quality of the 2018 Census data. An independent panel of experts has assessed the quality of the 2018 Census dataset. The panel has endorsed Stats NZ's overall methods and concluded that the use of government administrative records has improved the coverage of key variables such as age, sex, ethnicity, and place. The panel's Initial report of the 2018 Census External Data Quality Panel (September 2019), assessed the methodologies used by Stats NZ to produce the final dataset, as well as the quality of some of the key variables. Its second report 2018 Census External Data Quality Panel: Assessment of variables assessed an additional 31 variables.

In its third report, Final report of the 2018 Census External Data Quality Panel (February 2020), the panel made 24 recommendations, several relating to preparations for the 2023 Census. Along with this report, the panel, supported by Stats NZ, produced a series of graphs summarising the sources of data for key 2018 Census individual variables, 2018 Census External Data Quality Panel: Data sources for key 2018 Census individual variables.

The Quick guide to the 2018 Census outlines the key changes we introduced as we prepared for the 2018 Census, and the changes we made once collection was complete.

The geographic boundaries are as at 1 January 2018. See Statistical standard for geographic areas 2018.

Confidentiality

The 2018 Census confidentiality rules have been applied to 2006, 2013, and 2018 Census data. These rules protect the confidentiality of individuals, families, households, dwellings, and undertakings in 2018 Census data.

Counts are calculated using fixed random rounding to base 3 (FRR3), and suppression of ‘sensitive’ counts less than six, where tables report multiple geographic variables and/or small populations. Individual figures may not always sum to stated totals.

Measures like means, medians, and other quantiles are calculated from unrounded counts, with input noise added to or subtracted from each contributing value during measures calculation. Means and medians based on less than six individuals are suppressed. This suppression threshold changes for other quantiles.

For categories with small populations, the median reported may differ from that expected because of the effects of noise and rounding. Caution is advised when using median data in small populations.

For more information on the most recent 2018 Census confidentiality rules, see Applying confidentiality rules to 2018 Census data and summary of changes since 2013.

Media enquiries

Sandi Reily
021 285 9191
media@stats.govt.nz