Continental European people with no religious affiliation in New Zealand
By ethnicity, 2018 Census, % of people where information available
Flemish
75%
Czech
72.6%
Estonian
66.7%
Slovenian
65.8%
Belgian
64.2%
French
62.8%
Swedish
62%
Latvian
56.3%
Albanian
55.4%
Icelandic
53.8%
Bosnian
53.7%
Finnish
52.9%
Dutch
52.2%
Danish
51.9%
German
51.1%
Norwegian
50.9%
Slavic
50%
Russian
47.8%
Hungarian
46.9%
Spanish
46.2%
South Slav (not elsewhere classified)
45.8%
Lithuanian
45.2%
Swiss
45%
Italian
44.2%
Roma
43.2%
Austrian
43.2%
South Slav (not further defined)
42.1%
Slovak
41.9%
Belorussian
38.3%
Ukrainian
37.2%
Polish
36.8%
Portuguese
36.7%
Bulgarian
36.3%
Croatian
34.8%
Cypriot (not further defined)
30.8%
Serbian
29.2%
Dalmatian
29%
Greek
28.6%
Maltese
28.6%
Armenian
22.7%
Romanian
21.2%
Macedonian
19.9%
The following information applies to all values in the table. Census Year: 2018, Subject population: Census usually resident population, MEC group: Continental European, Religion: No Religion, Unit: Percentage
You can use this data confidently. Stats NZ rated it as high quality.
For more information, read about response rates below.
Stats NZ gives data an overall rating based on sources and coverage, consistency, and data quality.
Why am I seeing this?
This data is from the Census. The past two censuses had relatively low response rates, particularly for some areas of New Zealand and groups of people.
Where information was missing or unreadable, Stats NZ attempted to use data from a range of places such as previous censuses or administrative data that is collected by other government agencies. If that isn't available, Stats NZ use statistical models to predict what the missing data would have been. This is called imputation.
Things to be aware of
The data quality checks for religious affiliation included edits for consistency within the dataset and cross-tabulations to the national and regional council level of geography.
Religious affiliation data has only minor data quality issues. The quality of coding and responses within classification categories is high. Any impact of other data sources used is minor. Any issues with the variable appear in a low number of cases (typically in the low hundreds).
The implementation of as-you-type functionality for the online forms helped ensure valid responses were provided.
A person may vary their reporting of their ethnicity, including the number of ethnicities they identify with, according to the context in which they are asked. This is a consideration when comparing the 2018 Census results with other sources. In addition, the 'as-you-type' online functionality of this census allowed for more detailed responses than in other data collections, including previous censuses.
Religious affiliation is the self-identified association of a person with a religion, denomination, or sub-denominational religious group.
A religion is a set of beliefs and practices that usually involves acknowledging a higher power, and guides people's conduct and morals. Religious affiliation can have multiple responses as people may have affiliation with more than one religion or denomination.
A denomination is a subgroup of a religion. For example, Roman Catholic is a Christian denomination.
Ethnicity is the ethnic group or groups a person identifies with or has a sense of belonging to. It is a measure of cultural affiliation (in contrast to race, ancestry, nationality, or citizenship). This demographic attribute is self-perceived, and a person can belong to more than one ethnic group.
Response rates and final data sources
Religious affiliation:
The response rate for this question from 2018 Census forms was 82.9%. A further 8.2% of the data come from responses to the 2013 Census. The remaining 8.8% of the data was derived from statistical imputation.
Ethnic group:
The response rate from 2018 Census forms was 84.4%. In addition, 8.2% of responses were sourced from forms submitted during the 2013 Census. 6.2% were sourced from administrative data such as the births register, education enrolments, Ministry of Health, Corrections, and Ministry of Defence datasets. 1.2% of responses were imputed, while less than 0.1% were missing.
Some responses that could not be classified, or did not provide the type of information asked for, remain in the data where Stats NZ was unable to find information from another source. These are included in the response rate from 2018 Census forms.
Definitions
Census usually resident population count of New Zealand: a count of all people who usually live in and were present in New Zealand on census night. It excludes overseas visitors and New Zealand residents who are temporarily overseas.
Data calculation/treatment
This data has been randomly rounded to protect confidentiality. Figure.NZ calculated percentages based on the 'Total stated' values for each variable. Individual percentages may not sum to 100% and values for the same data may vary in different tables.
The 2018 Census was a modernised census based on models used in 2016 by the Canadian and Australian statistical agencies and then applied in the New Zealand context. Stats NZ collaborated with census experts from both countries when designing the model.
Under the new model, how Stats NZ enabled/collected from the respondents changed from predominately field-based activities to 80 percent mail-out with a reduced field presence and increased communications, marketing and engagement. The way respondents completed their forms also changed, with a greater focus on online completion over paper. The majority of the population was encouraged to complete the census online using an internet access code mailed to their households before census night. The new collection model therefore relied on the public to self-respond, rather than wait for a visit from field staff. Field follow-up activities were also planned.
The main areas of change were:
- phasing the model (prepare, enable, remind and visit)
- strategies used across the different phases
- mailing out “call to action” letters with an internet access code and instructions on how to order paper forms, if required, as the first interaction with census
- reducing the number of field staff, with a new structure and roles
- outsourcing the recruitment functions for field staff
- introducing new field technology
- creating a new address frame (a list of all dwellings in New Zealand)
- an integrated communications campaign including community engagement
- a new approach to processing the census data.
Census: Select variables by detailed ethnic group (custom request) 2018
How to find the data
This data was originally produced by Stats NZ for the Ministry of Ethnic Communities (MEC). Figure.NZ was restructured and organised by Figure.NZ for processing purposes.
The MEC ethnic grouping has been inserted by Figure.NZ based on the latest MEC classification in 2023.
The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings is the official count of how many people and dwellings there are in New Zealand. It provides a snapshot of our society at a point in time and helps to tell the story of its social and economic change. The 2018 Census, held on Tuesday 6 March, was the 34th New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings. The first official census was run in 1851, and since 1877 there has been a census every five years, with only four exceptions.
Purpose of collection
Census information is used by government agencies, local authorities, businesses, community organisations, and the public for developing and implementing new policies, research, planning, and decision-making. It helps us make decisions about how to best use public funding, especially in areas of health, education, housing, and transport.
The census is also the primary source of information used for deciding the number of general and Māori electorates, along with data from the corresponding Māori Electoral Option.