Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga heading for greater diversity

By by Ellen Irvine
Bay of Plenty Times·
3 Feb, 2012 08:55 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tauranga will be a more diverse city in 10 years with a changing demographic meaning fewer New Zealand Europeans and more Maori, Asian and Pacific Island residents.

Latest projections from Statistics New Zealand estimate Tauranga's population at June last year at 128,000. Of those, Europeans made up 78 per cent, Maori 15.7 per cent, Asian 3.8 per cent and Pacific Island 2 per cent.

Projections for June 2021 are for a population of 151,200 - an increase of 17.9 per cent.

The proportion of New Zealand European residents is expected to drop slightly to 76 per cent, while the Maori population increases to 16.6 per cent, Asian 4.89 per cent and Pacific 2.4 per cent.

Tauranga will have proportionally more European residents than New Zealand as a whole, about the average number of Maori, and fewer Pacific and Asian residents.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

New Zealand in 2021 is projected to be made up of 71 per cent New Zealand European, 16 per cent Maori, 14 per cent Asian and 9 per cent Pacific Island residents.

Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said more ethnic diversity was "inevitable" and would make the city a more interesting place to live.

"I think Tauranga on the whole is a very tolerant and welcoming city, but we need to all try harder to be open to different cultures and embrace people from all sorts of different cultural backgrounds."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While the city was noticeably less diverse than other parts of New Zealand like Auckland and Wellington, Mr Bridges said there were strong Korean, Indian and Pacific communities in Tauranga.

"We are changing rapidly."

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby has seen evidence of the changing demographics of Tauranga, particularly the growth of the Asian community at the city's citizenship ceremonies.

"What it does is it brings in a fantastic mix when you bring new cultures into Tauranga."

Maori and Pacific Island growth had been predicted through SmartGrowth demographic work, Mr Crosby said.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Max Mason said the changes in demographics were "too small to really make a difference", but the increased population would have an impact on Tauranga.

"What's critical is the quality of these new people in terms of education, ambition and productive capability.

"If we can attract a few thousand energetic tall poppies over the next decade, their businesses will transform our local business scene into a more diversified, higher wage local economy, characterised by entrepreneurial, fast growth ventures taking our products and services to the world."

This could mean higher average family incomes, better quality of life and better jobs.

Ewa Fenn, president of Tauranga Regional Multicultural Society, said the Psa crisis was currently driving immigrants away from the Western Bay, but she believed this was a short-term issue only.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"In Tauranga, the main business for people moving here was the kiwifruit industry.

"In Te Puke, there's a bigger percentage of population of Asians, Indians, Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Pacific Islanders, because the work is there.

"I know a lot of people who are moving from Tauranga to Auckland and quite a few from Auckland to Australia."

But Mrs Fenn believed the Psa crisis would be resolved and the Western Bay's strong migrant base would attract more immigrants.

Tauranga was welcoming and tolerant to migrants "on the surface", she said.

The city could be "hostile" when large groups of certain cultures arrived but tolerance seemed to build up quickly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"A Muslim friend of mine had some unpleasant comments and attitudes of people when she first arrived but now she is fine.

"The people from her circle, and even in the street, have got used to her, and that was only three or four years ago."

Mrs Fenn believed Tauranga on the whole was becoming more tolerant of other cultures. "It's a matter of people getting used to it.

"Now we have so many people from various nationalities in Tauranga with successful businesses and being efficient workers in the public sector, like the hospital and in the police.

"Because there's a mix, people finally get the idea that [immigrants] are not that bad actually."

Mrs Fenn said Kiwis who had travelled widely appeared to be more tolerant of other cultures.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She believed the Tauranga Multicultural Festival, now in its 13th year, had helped break down boundaries in the city.

"I hope this has in some way contributed to people accepting other cultures because they are getting to know the people, their culture, their food - that breaks the barriers."

The festival will this year be held on March 17 at the Historic Village.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 09:11 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

02 Jul 09:05 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM

A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for the region tonight.

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 09:11 PM
'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

02 Jul 09:05 PM
Tauranga's Young Grower to compete on national stage

Tauranga's Young Grower to compete on national stage

02 Jul 09:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP