Asian population predicted to swell to 604,000 by 2021

By PHILIP ENGLISH and SCOTT MacLEOD

The number of Asians living in New Zealand is predicted to more than double over the 20 years after the 2001 Census.

Statistics New Zealand said yesterday 604,000 Asians would be living here by 2021 - or 13 per cent of the total population.

Two years ago the Census put the number of Asians at 272,000. The figure is now estimated at 346,000.

Immigration critic and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said yesterday the figures showed New Zealand was becoming an Asian outpost, but Asian MP Pansy Wong said the arrivals would be beneficial.

The estimates showed the annual growth rate for Asians would dip from the present 13 per cent to less than 2 per cent by 2021.

But the Asian population would still grow faster than that for other New Zealanders because of high immigration levels.

The number of Asian children in New Zealand was predicted to grow from 7 per cent of the total two years ago to 15 per cent by 2021.

New Zealand's total population was expected to rise by just 500,000 by then, to 4.5 million.

Land Information and Statistics Minister John Tamihere compared the Asian figures with those for Maori, who were expected to boost their numbers by 28 per cent, and for Pacific Islanders, predicted to be up 58 per cent.

Mr Tamihere said the figures showed New Zealand was growing ethnically diverse, and planning was needed to cope with pressure on education, housing, employment and health.

Mr Peters, who opposes high immigration numbers, accused the Government of turning New Zealand into an Asian colony and said there would be cultural and social disruption.

National's Mrs Wong said she doubted the figures, and thought the numbers would be much smaller.

But New Zealand would benefit from the entrepreneurial skills of those Asians who did live here.

"The Asian community that I'm familiar with has matured and has greater interaction with the wider community," she said yesterday.

"They are moving from fruit stores and running families to property development and high-tech businesses."

Statistics New Zealand senior demographer Kim Dunstan said some people listing themselves as being Asian may never have visited that part of the world.