Languages spoken in New Zealand
2023 Census, number of people
| Language spoken | Number of people |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | 49,041 |
| English | 4,750,056 |
| French | 52,884 |
| German | 40,092 |
| Hindi | 77,985 |
| Mandarin | 107,412 |
| New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) | 24,678 |
| Other languages | 391,470 |
| Panjabi | 49,656 |
| Samoan | 110,541 |
| Sinitic not further defined | 58,059 |
| Spanish | 47,004 |
| Tagalog | 59,517 |
| Te Reo Māori | 213,849 |
| Tongan | 37,752 |
| Cantonese | 54,417 |
Data Quality
Using this data
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 language classification with the highest imputation rate is the Central Eastern Malayo-Polynesian language group. This category includes Te Reo Māori and most of the languages spoken in the Pacific.
Read the response rates and final data sources section for more information.
Subject matter
Response rates and final data sources
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.
Census night population count of New Zealand: a count of all people present in New Zealand on census night. This includes visitors from overseas who are counted on census night but excludes residents who are temporarily overseas on census night.
Response 'stated': Members of the subject population (eg. people or dwelling) for which the data was obtained through a census form, administrative sources, or imputed.
Data calculation/treatment
This data has been randomly rounded to protect confidentiality.
For more information
https://datainfoplus.stats.govt.nz/item/nz.govt.stats/7c1335e0-c2c7-4217-ac48-bfc7a68aea48
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2023-census-population-dwelling-and-housing-highlights/
Inclusions
Geographically the census includes the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands, plus largely uninhabited islands including the Kermadec Islands, Three Kings Islands, Mayor Island, Motiti Island, White Island, Moutohora Island, Bounty Islands, Snares Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Island.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Census: Languages spoken, birthplace, age, and gender for the census usually resident population count, (RC, TALB, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses
Webpage:
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Census: Languages spoken, birthplace, age, and gender for the census usually resident population count, (RC, TALB, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses
From the dataset Census: Languages spoken, birthplace, age, and gender for the census usually resident population count, (RC, TALB, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: Region
- Range:
Q2:Q108001 - Provided: 102,600 data points
This data forms the table Census - Languages spoken by age group, gender and region 2013, 2018 and 2023.
Dataset originally released on:
March 12, 2025
About this dataset
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 2023 Census, held on Tuesday 7 March, was the 35th 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.