Growing ethnic diversity in New Zealand has significant implications for our country, where Ethnic Communities now make up over 1.1 million people. The Ministry for Ethnic Communities has released a new suite of evidence-based resources to support better planning and decision-making across government, business, and community sectors.
“These resources offer a clearer picture of how New Zealand’s Ethnic Communities are participating across society – from business ownership, employment and safety. They matter because they identify where support and investment can be most effective, and where there is potential for growth,” says Mervin Singham, Chief Executive of the Ministry for Ethnic Communities.
The resources include:
- An interactive dashboard updated with data from the 2023 Census, allowing users to explore key information by ethnicity, location, religion, language, age and more.
- A research report on barriers to business, outlining challenges ethnic businesses encounter in scaling up and navigating New Zealand’s business environment.
- An Ethnic Business Demographics fact sheet, providing a snapshot of ethnic business owners in New Zealand.
- A Justice and Safety fact sheet, providing new insights from the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey focused on Ethnic Communities.
- A research report on pay gaps, examining difference in earnings across Ethnic Communities and the factors that influence them.
These resources build on the Ethnic Evidence report released by the Ministry last year.
By making data and evidence like this more accessible to everyone, the Ministry is aiming to drive more targeted, data-driven planning across a range of sectors, including government, business and communities.