The Statistics NZ has released its census 2018 report confirming the much-awaited and widely anticipated news of the increase in the number of Kiwi-Indians, crossing the 200,000 mark.

The number of people identified as Indian-origin in the latest census is 4.7 per cent of the entire population.

In the last 2013 census, the number of Indian-origin people in the country was 155,000, which is estimated to have increased in 2018 to about 231,099 on the census night March 6, 2018

New Zealand is all set to hit the magical number of 5 million people in 2020.

This census (2013- 2018) had witnessed the fastest increase in the population ever in its history, largely owing to the high rate of immigration. 

On average, the population grew by about 2.1 per cent a year since the 2013 Census – significantly higher than the annual average growth between 2006 and 2013 (0.7 per cent).

The higher growth rate is consistent with higher net migration (259,000 in the five years ended June 30, 2018, compared with 59,000 in the seven years ended June 30 2013).

However, Statistics NZ is advising everyone to be cautious when comparing 2018 Census data with earlier censuses, as the earlier censuses include missing values (for example, not stated, or unidentifiable ethnicities).

Notably, the census taken on March 6, 2018, has been considerably delayed, after one-in-six failed to fully complete the first digital census and Statistics New Zealand was forced to patch the results with other Government datasets.

There was no change in the top five ethnicities between the 2013 and 2018 Censuses: New Zealand European (64.1 per cent), Maori (16.5 per cent), Chinese (4.9 per cent), Indian (4.7 per cent), and Samoan (3.9 per cent).

There was a fall in the number of people born in New Zealand from 74.8 per cent in 2013 to 72.6 per cent in 2013, suggesting an increase in the number of people born overseas.

The next most common birthplace was England at 4.5 per cent, down from 5.4 per cent in 2013.

This was followed by the People’s Republic of China (2.9 per cent or 132,906 people) and India (2.5 per cent or 117,348 people), both up from 2.2 and 1.7 per cent respectively (or 89,121 and 67,176 people) in the 2013 Census.

Notably, of the total 4.7 per cent Indian-origin population in the country, about 2.5 per cent were born in India (117,348 people) – an increase from 67,176 people from the 2013 census. 

Historical census data shows that New Zealand’s population reached 1 million by 1911, surpassed 2 million by 1956, 3 million by 1976, and 4 million by 2006.  The 2018 Census usually resident population count of 4,699,755 and relatively high net migration suggests New Zealand’s population will reach 5 million in 2020.