Statistics New Zealand released the second tranche of Census 2023 data this morning. This was the first census to include questions about gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual identity. Photo / Dean Purcell
Statistics New Zealand released the second tranche of Census 2023 data this morning. This was the first census to include questions about gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual identity. Photo / Dean Purcell
Data from the 2023 Census has revealed the New Zealand cities with the highest and lowest proportion of people who identified as belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community.
It has revealed Wellington as the city with the highest proportion of people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer – 11.3% of Wellington’s adult population indicated they were LGBTIQ+ or Rainbow.
Auckland has 57,324 people who belong to the LGBTIQ+ community, this is 4.9% of the adult population who provided a census response.
Within Auckland, the Waitematā Local Board area, covering Ponsonby, Central Auckland, Freemans Bay, Herne Bay, Cox’s Bay, Western Springs and Grey Lynn, had the highest proportion of LGBTIQ+ adults in the city, at 12%.
After Wellington, the cities the highest proportions were Dunedin (7.3%), Christchurch (6%), Palmerston North (5.8%) and Hamilton (5.6%).
Wellington is the city with the highest proportion of Rainbow community members. Photo / Georgina Campbell
Across the country, one in 20 adults - or 4.9% - belonged to New Zealand’s LGBTIQ+ population.
This included 47,631 people who identified as homosexual (gay or lesbian), 78,300 as bisexual and 19,026 people whose sexual identities were not classified in the census.
Nationally, 0.7% of people said they were transgender, with 5013 identifying as transgender men, 5736 as transgender women, and 15,348 as transgender people of another gender.
Auckland has the lowest proportion of LGBTIQ+ people in New Zealand. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
In the 2023 Census, 15,039 people (or 0.4% of the census usually resident population aged 15 years and older) stated they knew they were born with a variation of sex characteristics.
People who identified as another gender other than male or female were on average younger than the general population on average.
Tabby Besley, managing director of support and education charity InsideOUT, told the Herald she was not surprised at Wellington’s place in the results, saying it had long been seen as a safe and accepting space for the LGBTIQ+ community.
“Wellington has a long history of being a supportive city for Rainbow communities, where people from other parts of the country often move to have an easier life where they are accepted,” Besley said.
LGBTQ+ charity InsideOUT’s managing director Tabby Besley
She said self-reporting of sexuality, orientation and identities in the census could be lower than the actual figure, though. She noted low participation rates, particularly for youngsters, and said many may feel uncomfortable or unable to list their true identity.
“A lot of the time it’s their parents filing out the census on their behalf. They may not necessarily feel safe to put that if they’re not out with people, maybe if they’re doing it with flatmates, or someone else who could have access to it at home,” Besley said.
“So there’s lots of potential barriers, it’s definitely important we don’t take it as a fully accurate picture.”
But Besley said it was “good to be counted” in the census: “This is something our communities have been advocating for for decades. It [having data] definitely gives us a much better idea than we’ve ever had in the past.”
Correction: This article earlier incorrectly reported some data about New Zealand’s bisexual population and stated Auckland was the city with the lowest proportion of people identifying as part of the Rainbow or LGBTIQ+ community in New Zealand. This has been corrected.
