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Religion in New Zealand (2018)[1][a]
| Religion by country |
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 Religion portal |
Religion in New Zealand encompasses a wide range of groups and beliefs. New Zealand has no state religion and freedom of religion has been protected since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.[2]
Almost half (48.6 per cent) of New Zealanders stated they had no religion in the 2018 census and 6.7 per cent made no declaration. Christianity remains the most popular religion; 37.3 per cent of the population at the 2018 census identified as Christian, with Anglican being the largest religious affiliation, just ahead of "Christian not further defined," Roman Catholic, and, grouped together, 'Presbyterian, Congregational and Reformed'.[1]
Overview
Before European colonisation the religion of the indigenous Māori population was polytheistic and animistic. Efforts of Christian missionaries and their churches resulted in most Māori converting to Christianity.[3] Māori transformed their moral, religious and political lives, making Christianity their own. In the 1840s, it's likely that a larger proportion of Māori regularly attended church services than people did in the United Kingdom.[4]
The majority of 19th-century European immigrants came from the British Isles, establishing the three dominant British Christian denominations in New Zealand: Anglicanism, Catholicism and Presbyterianism. The tendency for Scottish immigrants to settle in Otago and Southland saw Presbyterianism predominate in these regions while Anglicanism predominated elsewhere; the effect of this is still seen in religious affiliation statistics today (see the map below). The arrival of other groups of immigrants did little to change Christianity being the major religion: Pacific Islanders and other primarily Christian ethnic groups dominated immigration until the 1970s.[citation needed]
Immigration since 1991 has led to slight yet steady growth in the number of adherents of south and south-east Asian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, particularly in Auckland.[5] The number and proportion of people affiliating with non-Christian religions has increased to around six per cent of the population. Hinduism the second-most popular religion with 2.7 per cent of the population.[1] Sikhism is the fastest-growing faith.[6]
Demographics
Religious affiliation
New Zealand censuses have collected data on religious affiliation since 1851. Statistics New Zealand (the state agency that collects statistics on religion and other demographics) state that:
Religious affiliation is a variable of strong interest to religious organisations, social scientists, and can be used as an explanatory variable in studies on topics such as marriage formation and dissolution, fertility and income.[7]
One complication in interpreting religious affiliation data in New Zealand is the large proportion who object to answering the question – roughly 313,000 respondents in 2018.[8] Most reporting of percentages is based on the total number of responses, rather than the total population.[9][8]
In the early 20th century New Zealand census data indicates that the vast majority of New Zealanders affiliated with Christianity. The total percentages in the 1921 non-Māori census were: 45% Anglicans, 19.9% Presbyterians, 13.6% Catholics, 9.5% Methodists and 11.2% Others. Statistics for Māori in particular became available only from 1936, with 35.8% Anglicans, 19.9% Rātana, 13.9% Catholics, 7.2% Ringatū, 7.1% Methodists, 6.5% Latter-day Saints, 1.3% Methodists and 8.3% Others recorded at this census.[10]
Religious affiliation statistics
The table below is based on religious affiliation data recorded at the last four censuses for usually resident people. Figures and percentages may not add to 100 per cent as it is possible for people to state more than one religion.[11] The trend indicators are based on the change in percentage of the population, not the number of adherents.
The 2018 census had an unusually low (83%) response rate.[12] Statistics New Zealand subsequently calculated the 2018 census statistics based on the combination of 2018 census responses (82.9%), 2013 census responses (8.2%) and imputation (8.8%). The reported results are deemed to be high quality, but are not completely reliable.[13]
