If you want to develop your listening skills, try these tasks as you listen to the text. The answers are at the bottom of this page, after the Vocabulary. Thanks to Natasha Groves for preparing the tasks.
If you want to listen and read, just scroll down to the text.
1. Listening for main ideas
First, just listen to the text, taking notes if you wish. What information can you catch during this first listening?
2. Now listen again and answer the following questions:
- What does data from the 2023 Census show?
- How many languages are spoken in New Zealand?
- Put the following ethnic groups in order of population size from 1 (the largest group) to 5: Chinese; Māori; Indian; Samoan; New Zealand European
- What percentage of New Zealanders were born overseas in 2023? In 2013? In 1991?
- How many te reo Māori speakers were there in 2023? And in 2018?
- In 2023, how many people spoke the following languages? Samoan; Northern Chinese; Hindi; New Zealand sign language
- How does ethnic diversity in Auckland compare to other regions?
- Fill in the gaps with the correct percentage:
Half the population in Auckland have a European ethnicity, while _______ percent of people identify as Asian and _______ percent as Pasifika. _______ percent of the Korean and Chinese populations in New Zealand live in Auckland, while _______ percent of the Tokelauan population and _______ percent of the Greek population live in Wellington.
Text
Data from the 2023 Census shows that New Zealand is continuing to become more culturally diverse. People living here identified with a wide range of ethnicities and spoke over 150 languages.
After New Zealand European and Māori, the largest ethnic groups were Indian, with 5.7 percent of the total population, Chinese with 5.6 percent, and Samoan with 4.3 percent.
28.8 percent of New Zealanders were born overseas. This is up from 25.2 percent in 2013 and almost double that in the 1991 Census, when only 15.8 percent of people were born overseas. People born in England made up 4.2 percent of the population, and those born in China and in India made up 2.9 percent each. Other common overseas countries of birth were the Philippines, South Africa, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, the United States, and South Korea.
English is the most widely spoken language, but more people now speak te reo Māori. There were 213,849 te reo Māori speakers in 2023, up from 185,955 in 2018. This was an increase of 27,894 people (15.0 percent) since the 2018 Census. The third most widely spoken language is Samoan (110,541 people), followed by Northern Chinese (107,412 people), and Hindi (77,985 people). New Zealand’s other official language, New Zealand Sign Language, had nearly 25,000 users. This was an increase of almost 1,692 people or 7.4 percent since the 2018 Census.
Auckland is the most ethnically diverse region of the country. Half the population in Auckland have a European ethnicity, while 31.3 percent of people identify as Asian and 16.6 percent as Pasifika. 70 percent of the Korean and Chinese populations in New Zealand live in Auckland, while 47.6 percent of the Tokelauan population and 40.4 percent of the Greek population live in Wellington. Over half the population in Gisborne identify as Māori.
If you want extra listening on this topic, listen to Cultural Diversity which has information from the 2013 Census.
Vocabulary
census – an official process of counting a country’s population and collecting information about the people
ethnicity – the fact of belonging to a particular ethnic group (= a group of people that share a cultural tradition)
ethnically diverse – having many different ethnic groups in a specific area
to identify as – to say that you belong to a category or group
Answers
a. What does data from the 2023 Census show?
New Zealand is becoming more culturally diverse.
b. How many languages are spoken in New Zealand?
Over 150
c. Put the following ethnic groups in order of population size from 1 (the largest group) to 5:
Chinese 4; Māori 2; Indian 3; Samoan 5; New Zealand European 1
d. What percentage of New Zealanders were born overseas in 2023? 28.8%
In 2013? 25.2%
In 1991? 15.8%
e. How many te reo Māori speakers were there in 2023? 213,849. And in 2018? 185,955
f. In 2023, how many people spoke the following languages?
Samoan 110,541; Northern Chinese 107,412; Hindi 77,985; New Zealand sign language 25,000
g. How does ethnic diversity in Auckland compare to other regions?
It is the most ethnically diverse region of the country.
h. Fill in the gaps with the correct percentage:
Half the population in Auckland have a European ethnicity, while 31.3 percent of people identify as Asian and 16.6 percent as Pasifika. 70 percent of the Korean and Chinese populations in New Zealand live in Auckland, while 47.6 percent of the Tokelauan population and 40.4 percent of the Greek population live in Wellington.