Census: Latest data shows Hawke’s Bay becoming more multicultural

The latest data on Hawke's Bay from the Census has been released. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke’s Bay is becoming more diverse and multicultural with more than 30,000 residents born overseas.

The latest Census data dropped on Thursday and featured plenty of Hawke’s Bay insights.

It was the second round of data released from the 2023 Census after initial population figures released in May.

There are 30,576 people living in Hawke’s Bay born overseas out of a population of about 175,000 - which equates to 17.5% of the population.

That is up from 26,436 people (15.9% of the population) born overseas in 2018 and 20,754 (13.7%) in 2013.

The latest figures do not include a breakdown of where the 30,000 residents born overseas are originally from.

However, nationally, the most common countries people migrate from (in order) are England, China, India, Philippines (which had the largest percentage rise in NZ over the past five years), South Africa, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, United States and South Korea.

Multicultural Association Hawke’s Bay president Rizwaana Latiff, who hails from South Africa, said she loved living in the region.

She said it was significantly more multicultural now than when she moved here over 20 years ago as a midwife.

“We have had a significant rise in our migrant community,” she said.

“I think historically the Chinese community were the highest [in terms of the number of migrants in Hawke’s Bay] and I think it is probably now the Indian community.”

She said residents born overseas made a significant contribution to the wider Hawke’s Bay community “whether it is health, whether it is education, multiculture, hospitality - in every field”, and many had overcome a lot of challenges to immigrate.

She said while many services could be improved to support migrants, she was proud of Hastings District Council which was among the very first councils to launch a multicultural strategy in 2021.

Meanwhile, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne have the most volunteers per capita of any region in the country.

“Voluntary work decreased in every region between 2018 and 2023, except in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, which had been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle around the time of 2023 Census,” a Census report read.

“These two cyclone-affected regions also had the highest rates of volunteering in 2023.”

In Hawke’s Bay, 21.4% of the population undertook voluntary work compared with 15.6% in 2018.

After English, the most widely spoken language in Aotearoa New Zealand is te reo Māori and there were 213,849 te reo Māori speakers in 2023 across the country, up from 185,955 in 2018 - a rise of 15%.

The median income in Hawke’s Bay across all adults was $39,300 compared to a nationwide median of $42,500.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.