2018 Census statistics on Religious Diversity
As
many of you know, the 2018 New Zealand Census statistics were released earlier
this week on Monday 23 September. The released figures however, are always just
raw numbers of census respondents. In order to make some sense of these figures
I have compiled and published the attached chart, which should make it easier
for those of us interested in the religious demography of New Zealand to make
sense of the raw data. This includes portraying some of the intercensal growth
in the various categories.
I
hope that you will find this information useful.
Please
remember that it is a first draft and I would warmly welcome comments and
suggestions for improvement. I am also preparing a written article to accompany
the Table, which will include additional analysis and summarise long term
trends. For the moment, in the interest of getting these figures circulated I
am just providing the basic information.
There
are interesting trends to note, such as the phenomenal increase in our Jain and
Sikh populations, along with a tremendous increase in those responding with 'No
Religion’ and ‘Object to Answering’. Both Hinduism and Islam also continue on
strong growth trajectories.
The
decline in those adhering to the numerous Christian denominations has slowed
down a bit in the recent Intercensal period (although adherence to Christianity
now only makes up for 37% of those stating a religious affiliation, compared
with 48% in the 2018 Census stats). Since the 2013 Census, New Zealand is no
longer a Christian-majority country, although it maintains its status as the
religion with the most adherents in New Zealand. Secularity is still in the
majority (48.2%). Buddhism has also has lost more than 9% of its 2013
population.
Most
surprising however, is the significant decrease of those stating adherence to
Judaism, which has lost 23% of its population over the course of the most
recent intercensal period (after remaining flat for the previous intercensal
period). This may be due to increasing antisemitism and a Jewish population
that may be increasingly unlikely to identify as such. This decline is indeed
newsworthy and I’ll be working on a statement in the coming days.
Much
more work and analysis needs to be done on these statistics and figures, so
I’ll keep you posted as the research progresses.
If
you are distributing this PDF, please make sure to include both the chart on
Page 1 and the Notes on page 2, i.e. please do not simply print out the first
page and ignore the accompanying notes. If distributing printed versions,
please make sure to include Page 2 as the back side of a double sided
page.
This
PDF is available for download on our website at <www.earthdiverse.org.nz/publications/>.
Todd Nachowitz, PhD
Director, EarthDiverse
mobile: +64 27 432 7590
email: <todd@earthdiverse.org.nz>
bio: <www.waikato.ac.nz/staff-profiles/people/toddnach/>
web: <www.earthdiverse.org.nz>
facebook: <www.facebook.com/EarthDiverse>
twitter: twitter.com/EarthDiverse
Secretary, Waikato Interfaith
Council (WIFCO) / Te Tīaho Uenuku
email: <wifconz@gmail.com>
web site: <www.waikato-interfaith.org>facebook: <www.facebook.com/WIFCO>
