Ko wai ō mātou tamariki?

Who are our five to 12-year-olds?

Written by:
Melanie Wilson,

This chapter looks at the demographics of New Zealand children aged five to 12 years, based on data from the 2018 Census.  The chapter also highlights the younger age profile of Māori and Pacific populations compared to the European population.

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According to the 2018 Census, the population of children in each year group (5 years, 6 years, 7 years etc.) between five-12 years ranges from just over 59,000 at age 12 to just over 65,000 at age 8.

Gender

While the populations of boys and girls in this age range is generally evenly split, there are slightly more boys than girls at each age. Population projections suggest that the number of children at each age will continue to sit around 60,000 across the next 50 years, slightly lower than the 2018 population prior to age 11 and slightly higher than the 2018 population of 12 year olds (Statistics NZ, 2022).

Populations by age groupings

The population of children aged five to 12 years sat at just over 500,000 according to the 2018 Census.

The population of all children aged under 15 years old is greater than our older population (65 years and older) and similar to our population aged 15-29 years.

Ethnicity

Children aged five to twelve years by ethnicity

Already New Zealand’s Māori and Pacific populations are younger than the European population. Children and youth aged 18 and under make up around one fifth of the European population, while in contrast around 40% of the Māori population and 42% of the Pacific population is aged 18 years or under (Smale, 2023).

Children aged five to 12 years as a percentage of total population of ethnic group

Higher fertility rates among Māori and Pacific women compared to European and Asian women suggest that the proportion of children who are of Māori or Pacific descent will increase in coming years, while the proportion of European children will decline.

The proportion of Asian children is also predicted to increase although this increase is expected to occur through immigration rather than increased birth rates (Smale, 2023).