European New Zealanders
New Zealanders of European descent are mostly of British and Irish ancestry, with significantly smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as Germans, Poles,[2] French, Dutch, Croats and other South Slavs, Greeks,[3] and Scandinavians.[4] European New Zealanders are also known by the Māori-language loanword Pākehā.[5]
Statistics New Zealand maintains the national classification standard for ethnicity. European is one of the six top-level ethnic groups, alongside Māori, Pacific (Pasifika), Asian, Middle Eastern/Latin American/African (MELAA), and Other. Within the top-level European group are two second-level ethnic groups, New Zealand European and Other European. New Zealand European consists of New Zealanders of European descent, while Other European consists of migrant European ethnic groups. Other Europeans also includes some people of indirect European descent, including Americans, Canadians, South Africans and Australians.[6]
According to the 2018 New Zealand census, 3,372,708 people (70.2%) identified as European, with 3,013,440 people (64%) identifying as New Zealand European.[1]
There were 3,297,864 people identifying as being part of the European ethnic group at the 2018 New Zealand census, making up 70.2% of New Zealand's population.[25] This is an increase of 328,473 people (11.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 688,275 people (26.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,614,807 males and 1,683,054 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.959 males per female. The median age was 41.4 years, with 621,552 people (18.8%) aged under 15 years, 606,366 (18.4%) aged 15 to 29, 1,456,794 (44.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 613,149 (18.6%) aged 65 or older.[26]
In terms of population distribution, 71.6% of Europeans live in the North Island and 28.4% live in the South Island. The Waimakariri District has the highest concentration of Europeans at 92.9%, followed by the Tasman District (92.6%) and the Grey District (92.2%). The Ōtara-Papatoetoe local board area in Auckland has the lowest concentration at 16.6%, followed by the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board area (19.1%) and the Manurewa local board area (29.2%). The Wairoa District has the lowest concentration of European people outside Auckland at 47.5%.[26]
The first general Census of New Zealand population was taken November- December 1851. Subsequent censuses were taken in 1858, 1861, 1864, 1867, 1871, 1874, 1878 and 1881 and thereafter at five-yearly intervals until 1926.[24] The table shows the ethnic composition of New Zealand population at each census since the early twentieth century. Europeans are still the largest ethnic group in New Zealand. Their proportion of the total New Zealand population has been decreasing gradually since the 1916 Census.[12]
The 2006 Census counted 2,609,592 European New Zealanders. Most census reports do not separate European New Zealanders from the broader European ethnic category, which was the largest broad ethnic category in the 2006 Census. Europeans comprised 67.6 percent of respondents in 2006 compared with 80.1 percent in the 2001 census.[27]
The apparent drop in this figure was due to Statistics New Zealand's acceptance of 'New Zealander' as a distinct response to the ethnicity question and their placement of it within the "Other" ethnic category, along with an email campaign asking people to give it as their ethnicity in the 2006 Census.[28]
In previous censuses, these responses were counted belonging to the European New Zealanders group,[29] and Statistics New Zealand plans to return to this approach for the 2011 Census.[30] Eleven percent of respondents identified as New Zealanders in the 2006 Census (or as something similar, e.g. "Kiwi"),[31] well above the trend observed in previous censuses, and higher than the percentage seen in other surveys that year.[32]
In April 2009, Statistics New Zealand announced a review of their official ethnicity standard, citing this debate as a reason,[33] and a draft report was released for public comment. In response, the New Zealand Herald opined that the decision to leave the question unchanged in 2011 and rely on public information efforts was "rather too hopeful", and advocated a return to something like the 1986 approach. This asked people which of several identities "apply to you", instead of the more recent question "What ethnic group do you belong to?"[34]
There are many places in New Zealand named after people and places in Europe, especially the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the Netherlands as a result of the many English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Dutch and other European settlers and explorers. These include the name "New Zealand" itself, as described below, along with several notable cities and regions:
Small pockets of settlers from other European countries add to the identity and place names of specific New Zealand regions, most notably the Scandinavian-inspired place names of Dannevirke and Norsewood in southern Hawke's Bay.