Half of New Zealand's Pacific Islander population are Samoan, census statistics show.
Figures from the 2001 census showed 115,000 (50 per cent) of New Zealand's Pacific population were Samoan, a statement from Statistics New Zealand said.
The next largest Pacific ethnic group was Cook Island Maori (52,600, 23 per cent), followed by
Tongan (40,700, 18 per cent), Niuean (20,100, 9 per cent), Fijian (7000, 3 per cent), Tokelauan (6200, 3 per cent) and Tuvaluan (2000, 1 per cent).
The percentages totalled more than 100 per cent because some people identified to more than one ethnic group and had been counted in both, a Statistics NZ spokesman told NZPA.
"The members of these Pacific ethnic groups in New Zealand are increasingly likely to have been born here," government statistician Brian Pink said.
"In 2001, 70 per cent of both the Cook Island Maori and Niuean ethnic groups in New Zealand were New Zealand-born, a similar proportion to the Tokelauan ethnic group (66 per cent).
"The majority of the Samoan (58 per cent) and Tongan (53 per cent) people in New Zealand were also born here."
Mr Pink said New Zealand-born Pacific peoples were less likely to be able to speak their indigenous language, but were more likely than those born overseas to hold a post-school qualification.
Statistics New Zealand had been profiling Pacific communities since the 1991 census, Mr Pink said. One trend had been the continued growth of the Tuvaluan community in New Zealand, which more than doubled between 1996 (900) and 2001 (2000).
- NZPA
