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There are now almost 600,000 Maori living in Aotearoa.
Statistics New Zealand says on census night in March there were 598,605 people of Maori descent in New Zealand.
That’s just over 33,000 or 5.9 percent compared to the 2006 census.
The total population grew 5.3 percent to 4,242,048.
Government Statistician Liz MacPherson says the median age of Maori was 24 years and about a year older than at the last census.
She says more Maori are achieving formal qualifications at university, with more than 36,000 Maori reporting a bachelor’s degree or higher as their highest qualification, a 50 percent jump on 2006.
However, the number of Maori that can now hold a conversation about everyday things in te reo Maori dropped 4.8 percent to just over one in five.
The area with the highest proportion of Maori speakers was Gisborne, followed by Northland.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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