First time trans, non-binary and intersex people counted in census

Thursday, 3 October 2024

About one in 20 adults identify as belonging to the rainbow or LGBTIQ+ communities, or 4.9%.

This is the first time the census has included data on gender identity and intersex people in Aotearoa, revealed in the second release of the 2023 Census data on Thursday morning.

Of the total population, 50.3% identified as female, 49.3% identified as male and 0.4% identified as having another gender which was 20,400 people.

The 2023 Census was the first in Aotearoa to ask about people’s gender, sexual identity, and whether they were born with a variation of sex characteristics, Adele Quinn, principal analyst of the 2023 Census, said.

Wellington region had the highest proportion of those who identified as another gender at 0.8%. It was also the region with the highest proportion of LGBTIQ+ people at 7.6%, with Otago following at 5.7% and Canterbury at 5%.

Among those 15 and older, 99.3% were cisgender (people who identify as the same gender as the sex recorded at birth) and 0.7% were transgender.

Meanwhile, 89.6% identified as heterosexual, 1.4% as gay or lesbian, 2.3% as bisexual and 6.1% preferred not to say.

Of those who responded, 0.4% said they were born with a variation of sex characteristics – otherwise known as intersex.

Jack Byrne, co-principal investigator of Counting Ourselves – a survey on the health and wellbeing of transgender and non-binary people – said the publishing of the data was historic and a milestone only possible because of decades of work from individuals from the Rainbow community.

“When our diverse LGBTIQ+ communities are counted, the struggles we face become visible too, and we have more evidence to push for policies and services that are long overdue.”

It was important Stats NZ continued to consult with the diverse community to address gaps, particularly on intersectional data for Rainbow people who were Māori, Pasifika, from an ethnic community or disabled, Byrne said.

Quinn acknowledged the clear need for the information for service provision and for the communities to see themselves reflected in the data which had been a long time coming.

'It's a significant milestone for us,' Quinn said.

Because it was the first time some of the data had been collected, it was 'a little hard to say' what the implications would be for users of the data, she said.

There was always a danger in data being misused and it could be divisive but a lot of effort had been put into explaining each concept to encourage correct use of the data, Quinn said, and the team were proud of its inclusion in the 2023 Census.

The overall population count was 4,993,925, up from 4,699,755 in 2018 – a rise of 6.3%.

Almost 30% of usual residents were born overseas, an increase from 2018 (28.8% compared with 27.4%). The most common overseas birthplace was England, followed by China and India. The number of people born in the Philippines increased significantly in the decade between 2013 and 2023, from 37,299 people (0.9%) to 99,264 (2%).

There was also a growth in the number of people identifying as Asian, Pacific and Middle Eastern, Latin American and African (MELAA) ethnicities which was driven by the Latin American ethnic group. This group increased by 48.3%.

After English, the most widely spoken language was te reo Māori with 213,849 speakers, up from 185,955 in 2018.

It was an increase of 15% and the first time to hit the 200,000 mark which was 'really exciting to see', Rosemary Goodyear, principal analyst and Census insights, said.

It was the first time since the New Zealand census began that more than half of the population had no religion affiliation.

More than 350,000 people of Māori descent affiliated to one of the three largest iwi in Aotearoa.

Home ownership rates had increased for the first time since the 1990s which had been surprising, Goodyear said. About two-thirds of households in Aotearoa (66%) now owned a home or hold it in a family trust compared with 64.5% in 2018.

Homes were also healthier than in 2018 and were less damp, except for in Gisborne which saw an increase in dampness, likely the affects of Cyclone Gabrielle, Goodyear said.

At the same time, median rent rose by nearly a third.

About one in six workers mostly worked from home which provided a snapshot in 2023 and reflected changes fuelled by Covid-19, Goodyear said. 'It will be interesting to see what the trends will be in the future in terms of working from home,' she said.

Quinn said there was also a migration away from central cities which was reflected in the data and was also most likely drive by the impacts of Covid-19.

Cigarette smoking rates had almost halved since 2013 which had been an ongoing trend.

More than 1.1 million people were aged 60 and over – 22.5% compared with 20.8% in 2018, while 18.7% of the population were children under 15 years compared with 19.6% in 2018.

Birth rates had dropped slightly since the last census. Wellington and Otago regions had the lowest average number of children born per woman at 1.4, whilst Gisborne had the highest at 2.

Almost half a million people took part in voluntary work.