At the time of Census 2013, there were 2,980,824 New Zealand-born people living in this country and 1,001,787 people born overseas. Table 1 shows the percentage of these groups by the languages that they are able to speak.
Table 1: Percentage of New Zealand-born and overseas-born population by language spoken, 2013
Place of Birth |
English |
Te Reo Māori |
NZ Sign Language |
Other Languages |
| New Zealand Born | 96 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Overseas Born | 91 | 1 | 0 | 59 |
Source: Statistics New Zealand, the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings 2013
Table 1 includes all of the people who stated each language spoken, whether as their only language or as one of several languages. Where a person reported more than one language spoken, they have been counted in each applicable group. The source data for this table have been randomly rounded to protect confidentiality. Percentages may not add up to 100 per cent. Percentages have been rounded to the next full or half figure. The ‘not-elsewhere stated’ country of birth has been omitted for clarity. The ‘Other Languages’ category includes ‘Samoan’.
Table 1 shows a high percentage of New Zealand-born people (96 per cent) were able to speak English. Five per cent of the New Zealand-born population were able to speak Te Reo Māori. Another six per cent were able to speak a language other than English, Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language.
Ninety-one per cent of the overseas-born population were able to speak English and 1 per cent were able to speak Te Reo Māori. The majority of the overseas born population (59 per cent) were able to speak an ‘Other’ (non-New Zealand official) language.
Table 2: Birthplace by language spoken, 2013
Percentage of group speaking language, %
Where Born |
English |
Māori |
Samoan |
NZ Sign
|
Other
|
Total People |
| New Zealand | 96% | 5% | 1% | 1% | 4% | 2,960,214 |
| Australia | 97% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 6% | 62,742 |
| Pacific Islands | 85% | 2% | 35% | 1% | 44% | 135,852 |
| UK & Ireland | 99% | <1% | 1% | <1% | 8% | 251,688 |
| Other Europe | 94% | <1% | 1% | <1% | 80% | 68,070 |
| North America | 96% | 1% | 1% | <1% | 17% | 26,940 |
| Asia | 81% | <1% | <1% | <1% | 79% | 251,130 |
| Other | 94% | <1% | 1% | <1% | 56% | 83,124 |
Source: Statistics New Zealand, the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings 2013
Table 2 includes all of the people who stated each language spoken, whether as their only language or as one of several languages. Where a person reported more than one language spoken, they have been counted in each applicable group. The source data for this table has been randomly rounded to protect confidentiality. Individual figures and percentages may not add up to totals or 100 per cent. The total does not include figures for “not elsewhere included” responses (e.g. “unidentifiable”, “response outside scope” and “not stated”).
Table 2 shows that those born in English speaking countries like New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland, and North America (Canada and the United States of America) are predominantly able to speak English (over 97 per cent of people born in each of these regions spoke English).
While those born in ‘Other’ European countries also predominantly speak English (97 per cent), a high percentage also speak an ‘Other’ language. This very high percentage may be because a number of respondents in this group selected multiple languages spoken within the ‘Other language’ category (leading to more language response per person than in other ethnic groups).
Those born in Asia (84 per cent) and those born in the Pacific Islands (89 per cent) are the groups with the lowest percentage of English speakers.
However, 87 per cent of people born in Asia speak an ‘Other’ language. Similarly, amongst those born in the Pacific Islands, many can speak Samoan (32 per cent) and an ‘Other’ language’ (31 per cent). Nineteen per cent of people born in the Pacific Islands can also speak Hindi.