Maori demographics 2006 - Defining the Maori population

Definitions of the Māori population in official statistics 

Estimates of the Māori population in official statistics are often drawn from the population census. There have been significant changes over time to the way in which ethnicity data has been collected and reported in Aotearoa/New Zealand in official data collections such as the population census. Of significance, this includes a move away from ‘biological’ definitions of Māori based on ‘degrees of blood’ (noted as a
strategy in limiting government obligations to indigenous peoples), to definitions based on affiliation and self-identification with an ethnic group. In line with this, the ethnicity question in the population census has also changed over time and since 1986 has provided for people to self-identify with more than one ethnic group.1

The monitoring of trends over time has been affected by these changes in the definition of ethnicity, but also by the changes in the question used to collect ethnicity data in the five-yearly population census. For example, the ethnicity question in the census changed in the successive 1991, 1996, and 2001 censuses. In particular, the 1996 Census ethnicity question encouraged multiple ethnic affiliations in comparison to the 1991 Census question. In 2001 the census reverted to the 1991 question, and this question was retained for the 2006 Census (Figure 2.1).

The census also contains questions on Māori ancestry (Figure 2.2) and iwi affiliation, which provide other ways of measuring Māori populations. There are three broad Māori populations that can be produced from this current census information. These are:

• Māori ethnic group: all those who identified Māori as at least one of their ethnic group affiliations (2006 = 565,329)
• Sole Māori: those who identified solely with Māori on the ethnicity question (2006 = 289,500)
• Māori ancestry: all those who identified as having Māori ancestry in the ancestry question (2006 = 643,977).

For some purposes, Māori are defined both through ancestry and self-identification. Māori populations can also be defined at other levels, for example iwi and hapū.


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Hauora: Māori Standards of Health IV is the latest edition in the Hauora series, and covers the period 2000 to 2005. The first three chapters situate the health statistics within the broader context, including the theoretical, demographic and socioeconomic contexts. This is followed by chapters on mortality, public hospitalisations, cancer and mental health.

This volume of Hauora also includes a number of topic-based chapters from invited authors, including chapters on cardiovascular disease; diabetes; respiratory disease; oral health; disability; sleep problems; occupational safety and health; health in prisons; and the National Primary Medical Care Survey.

Hauora: Māori Standards of Health IV was funded by the Ministry of Health and the Health Research Council.

http://www.hauora.maori.nz/downloads/hauora_chapter02_web.pdf