October 02, 2019
Botched census puts back Māori population count
Statistics New Zealand is delaying its estimate of Māori population because of the botched census.
Just 68 percent of Māori completed their census forms, in part because of the greater emphasis on online data collection.
Stats NZ says the Māori population update was due in November, but it will come out when the 2018-base estimated resident population is published on March 30 next year.
That will allow the 2018 Census and 2018 post-enumeration survey results to be incorporated.
Māori population estimates include a factor of inter-ethnic mobility – to allow for people changing their ethnic identification over time.
The initial release of Census 2018 data showed an increase in the Māori population from 14.9 percent of the total population to 16.5 percent, but some of that increase came from a change in the way the data was collected.
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