New Zealand is a superdiverse country. It has the fourth highest proportion of overseas-born residents among the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. Auckland, with a population of 1. 7 million, has been ranked as the fourth most ethnically diverse city in the world.
Ethnic Communities are a significant and rapidly growing part of New Zealand's population. They include migrants, former refugees, long-term settlers, and multi-generational New Zealanders who identify their ethnicity as African, Asian, Continental European, Latin American, or Middle Eastern. New Zealand is home to people from over 160 different ethnic groups, who speak more than 150 languages.
While Ethnic Communities make up over 23% of New Zealand's population according to Census 2023, this is projected to increase to 31% by 2043. This presents further opportunities for Ethnic Communities to positively contribute to New Zealand's economy through skills, business development, international trade and foreign direct investment. At the same time, rapidly changing demographics can add complexity and result in unmet needs for some communities.
We have set out below five critical areas that offer opportunities, for your consideration. Officials are available to meet at your convenience to discuss your priorities and areas of interest.
Increase focus on better data and evidence to determine need and impact
There is a paucity of information about Ethnic Communities. They are relatively invisible in government. As a result, the specific needs of Ethnic Communities are often missed in government investment decisions, policy and service delivery.
The Ministry has actively taken steps to start filling these gaps. In December 2024, we released the first Ethnic Evidence report, spotlighting the contributions, challenges, and lived realities of our 1.1 million Ethnic Community members.
It is the first comprehensive report on Ethnic Communities in New Zealand and covers areas such as health and wellbeing, work and employment, business development, income, consumption and wealth. Ethnic Evidence revealed that there are some areas in which Ethnic Communities excel and do not need further government investment or intervention. For example, the high achievement rates of Asian students. But there are other areas where ethnic people fare worse, such as persistent pay gaps. The report received a warm welcome from both Ethnic Communities and the public sector for filling a systems-level gap.
But more needs to be done. This report in particular highlighted significant gaps in data and evidence across a range of areas. There is an opportunity for Government to continue to improve the data and insights available on Ethnic Communities and ensure it is reflected in its policy, service delivery and investment decisions.
A summary of the evidence from this report about the strengths of and challenges facing Ethnic Communities is provided in Appendix A. However, the broad domain trends can mask specific issues. For example, while work and employment appears to be on an upward trend with high skill levels and labour market engagement, there are persistent pay gaps and barriers to employment (eg recognition of overseas qualifications).
Leverage Ethnic Communities' connections and talent for economic growth
The contributions of ethnic businesses are crucial in supporting the Government’s economic growth agenda. A Sense Partners report commissioned by the Waitakere Ethnic Board (2021) found that Ethnic Communities contri uted $64 illion to New Zealand’s GDP in 2021 ($352 billion), underscoring their economic impact.
Ethnic Evidence found that businesses owned by Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and African (MELAA) people represent one in five businesses in New Zealand, and around 13% of New Zealand businesses that export goods. Research from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) shows that migrant investors have a significant impact on economic growth. This positions them well for the challenges of building a business in a competitive global economy. With more support to address barriers, ethnic businesses can play a stronger role in New Zealand’s growth.
Overseas, Asian-Australian entrepreneurs, for example, are leading transnational collaborations in manufacturing, digitalisation and e-commerce. There is recognition that fostering stronger engagement with Asian-Australian business communities could be pivotal for Australian businesses seeking to expand into Asia.
In New Zealand, the growing influence of Asian diaspora business communities presents a valuable opportunity to do the same. These communities offer critical insights that can support New Zealand’s economic expansion and international partnerships. With a deep knowledge of Asian markets, ethnic businesses are uniquely positioned to innovate and drive trade with, and investment from, China, India, ASEAN countries, the Middle East and beyond.
In October 2024, the Ministry launched Ethnic Xchange, a conference for ethnic businesses, with extensive funding and other support from the private sector. It brought together over 300 attendees, including business leaders, industry experts, innovators, investors and entrepreneurs, with the aim of boosting innovation, trade and investment. Feedback from those who attended was that they want to increase exports and grow their investment in New Zealand, as well as bring in more foreign direct investment.
Build a better understanding of health inequity
Many Ethnic Communities have highlighted that health is an area of significant concern. The Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 does not provide for a standalone ethnic health strategy, unlike for other population groups, meaning Ethnic Communities cannot see how their specific needs will be addressed. As a result, groups such as the Ethnic Health Collective have been doing their own research and advocating for government to improve health equity for Ethnic Communities.
There is no disaggregated health data on Ethnic Communities. What we do know is that:
- the Asian population has substantially lower levels of enrolment with primary health organisations (90.1%) than the general population (94.4%)
- mental health is an area of concern. For example, 39% of young people of MELAA ethnicity have seriously contemplated suicide (compared to 26% of all students). MELAA youth also have the lowest wellbeing scores at 40%, much lower than the New Zealand average (58%).
There is an opportunity to improve outcomes by addressing barriers to accessing healthcare, such as language, cost, cultural perceptions and practices, and discrimination.
Address domestic impact of geopolitical events
International conflicts continue to increase. This plays out domestically through tensions between communities.
The Ministry is seen as a connector between government agencies and communities, due to its deep and trusted relationships with ethnic and faith-based communities and their leaders across New Zealand.
Expectations of the Ministry have expanded to include convening and brokering between Ethnic Communities and other stakeholders on sensitive issues. We have een involved in situations such as the Tali an’s return to Afghanistan (2021), the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022), the release of the Kashmir Files film (2022) and the Hamas-Israel conflict in Gaza (2023-2024).
We have learnt that these situations require nuanced skills to empower the community to take the lead in de-escalating potential conflict and maintaining social cohesion. We continue to work with ethnic and faith leaders to prevent aggressive responses in New Zealand.
It is vital to have more focus on building safe and cohesive communities as New Zealand’s population diversity increases as forecasted.
Support communities to build resilience to foreign interference
he New Zealand Security ntelligence Services report ‘New Zealand’s Security Threat Environment ’ provided visi ility into foreign interference activity in New Zealand. We know that some Ethnic Communities experience foreign interference making them feel unsafe and infringing on their rights in New Zealand.
In Budget 2023, we received $9 million over four years to:
- support engagement with Ethnic Communities to assess the impact of foreign interference activities in New Zealand
- build awareness, community resilience and government-community relationships to mitigate against the risk of foreign interference.
Due to the sensitive nature of this work, officials will brief you separately.