Top 25 Languages in New Zealand | Ministry for Ethnic Communities

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</div> </nav> </div> </header> <main id="main" class="main"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <section class="col-md-12"> <div class="page-header"> <nav role="navigation"> <p class="sr-only" id="breadcrumbs-label">You are here</p> <ol class="breadcrumb" aria-labelledby="breadcrumbs-label"> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230506094339/https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/"> Home </a> </li> <li><a href="/web/20230506094339/https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/resources-2/">Resources</a></li> <li class="active">Top 25 Languages in New Zealand</li> </ol> </nav> <h1>Top 25 Languages in New Zealand</h1> </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="page-content"> <div class="element dnadesign__elemental__models__elementcontent " id="e23"> <div class="content-block block-holder block-background--white "> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <section class=" col-md-12 "> <div class="block-content"> <p>Below is a list of the 25 languages with the highest number of speakers at the time of Census 2013.</p><h2>Table 1: Top 25 Languages by number of speakers, 2013.</h2><table> <tbody> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <h3>Language</h3> </td> <td style="text-align: center;"> <h3>Number of<br>speakers</h3> </td> <td> <h3 style="text-align: center;">Percentage of<br>Total Population, %</h3> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>English</td> <td style="text-align: center;">3,819,969</td> <td style="text-align: center;">90%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>M膩ori</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 148,395</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 3.2%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td> Samoan</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 86,403</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td> Hindi</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 66,309</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td> Northern Chinese</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 52,263</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>6</td> <td> French</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 49,125</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>7</td> <td> Yue</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 44,625</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>8</td> <td> Sinitic</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 42,753</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>9</td> <td> German</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 36,642</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>10</td> <td> Tongan</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 31,839</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>11</td> <td>Tagalog</td> <td style="text-align: center;">29,016</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>12</td> <td>Afrikaans</td> <td style="text-align: center;">27,387</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>13</td> <td>Spanish</td> <td style="text-align: center;">26,979</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>14</td> <td>Korean</td> <td style="text-align: center;">26,373</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>15</td> <td>Dutch</td> <td style="text-align: center;">24,006</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>16</td> <td>New Zealand Sign Language</td> <td style="text-align: center;">20,235</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>17</td> <td>Japanese</td> <td style="text-align: center;">20,148</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>18</td> <td>Punjabi</td> <td style="text-align: center;">19,752</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>19</td> <td>Gujarati</td> <td style="text-align: center;">17,502</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>20</td> <td>Arabic</td> <td style="text-align: center;">10,746</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>21</td> <td>Russian</td> <td style="text-align: center;">9,426</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>22</td> <td>Italian</td> <td style="text-align: center;">8,214</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>23</td> <td>Cook Island Maori</td> <td style="text-align: center;">8,124</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>24</td> <td>Thai</td> <td style="text-align: center;">7,599</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>25</td> <td>Tamil</td> <td style="text-align: center;">6,840</td> <td style="text-align: center;"><1%</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Total People</td> <td style="text-align: center;">4,242,051</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table><h6>Source: <strong>Statistics New Zealand, the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings 2013</strong></h6><p><em>Table 1 includes all of the people who stated each language spoken, whether as their only language or as one of several languages. Where a person reported more than one language spoken, they have been counted in each applicable group. </em></p><p>In 2013, there were significantly more English speakers than speakers of any other language. English had over twenty-five times more speakers than second placed Te Reo M膩ori. English (90 per cent), Te Reo M膩ori (3 per cent), Samoan (2 per cent) and Hindi (2 per cent) were the only languages that could be spoken by more than 2 per cent of the population.</p><p>Eleven languages (Northern Chinese, French, Yue, Sinitic, German, Tongan, Tagalog, Afrikaans, Spanish, Korean and Dutch) were spoken by about 1 per cent of the population. All other languages on this list were spoken by less than one per cent of the population.</p><p><a href="/web/20230506094339/https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/resources-2/our-languages-o-tatou-reo/languages-in-new-zealand/">Return to Languages spoken in New Zealand</a></p><p><a href="/web/20230506094339/https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/resources-2/our-languages-o-tatou-reo/">Return to Our Languages</a></p> </div> </section> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <section class="col-md-12"> </section> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> <div class="page-utilities clearfix"> <p class="page-utilities-last-modified"> Last modified: <time datetime="2022-05-04">4 May 2022</time> </p> <ul class="list-inline page-utilities-actions"> <li> <a href="/web/20230506094339/https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/resources-2/our-languages-o-tatou-reo/new-registry-page/" class="btn btn-link fa fa-print" 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