Population

Abstract

The 1990s can be characterised as the decade of migration as far as New Zealand's 20th century population history is concerned. There was the largest decennial net migration gain this century, the largest annual net migration gain since 1875, the largest decennial numerical increase in population since the 1960s, and the largest influx of immigrants from countries in northeast Asia on record. This was a decade when migration flows both in and out of the country attracted considerable public and political comment. In the mid-1990s it was the 'Asian invasion' that was the key migration-related political issue; in the late 1990s it was the 'Kiwi exodus', especially to Australia, that was attracting attention both in New Zealand and Australia. A 'blip' in birth rates in the early 1990s also attracted considerable attention from demographers and policy analysts - A short-lived increase associated with irregularities in New Zealand's population structure as well as the changing patterns of fertility evident in later child bearing. The decade also saw some significant changes in the ethnic composition of the population, as well as debates about socio-economic 'gaps' between some of the major ethnic components