Census 2013: More ethnicities than the world's countries

The results of the 2013 census are now revealed in New Zealand and they show that the influx of migrants over the years have made the country one of the most diverse around the globe. More ethnicities make up New Zealand today than there are countries in the world. 

Statistics New Zealand recognise 196 countries around the world and the study reveals there are 213 ethnic groups currently in NZ with the majority being of Asian ethnicity predominantly of Chinese, Indian or Filipino origin. 

The Massey University of Humanities now consider New Zealand and especially the city of Auckland to be ‘super diverse’ with Auckland's population now over 23% Asian with Indian migrants increasing in the country by some 48% since the last census of 2006.  During this time Chinese migrants have risen by 16% to over 170,000 people and Filipino migrants have more than doubled to over 40,000. 

There is a lot on offer currently for migrants here with a massive rebuild of Christchurch underway and a huge skills shortage around this, tradespeople of all kinds are in desperate need and are being enticed into the country through many methods with a lot of incentives upon their arrival. Skilled people are accepted into New Zealand from wherever in the world they originate from, another contributing factor to the huge increase could be the refugee policy as well as the many opportunities for students here. 

Students come to study in New Zealand more each year and it is no wonder when there is an education system in place that is said to be the leader of the world. Students can also work under many visas and have the option to apply for permanent residency after their graduation. 

Also in the larger cities there are more rural migrant only communities than ever before in the country and with government schemes such as the 2013 Affordable Housing Programme which gave first refusal to first time buyers who were on a lower income, regardless of their nationality, migrants are made to feel extremely welcome here. 

New Zealand was one of the first countries to be populated by man and over the centuries the increase of migrants as well as the loss of many New Zealanders has assisted the present day population to be one of diversity with many cultures living side by side in this paradise on earth.