Europe for the most part of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, until immigration from the Pacific Islands and Asia including high birth rates of the Maori. began a change of this condition to a more multiethnic population.

In the period of time from April 2007 to March 2008, New Zealand’s total number of births was over 63,000 and the total number of deaths was over 28.000. The largest number of births by city was over 22,000 in Auckland. more than 7,000 in Canterbury, over 6.000 in Wellington. and more than 6.000 in Waikato.

The Census of 2001 came up with the following numbers: the Christian denominations census figures disagree widely from the membership numbers claimed by the churches themselves. In fact. the figures are substantially lower. For example. some may say that they are part of a certain denomination but might not be following the practices of the faith. A large number of New Zealanders possess a token preference for a specific sect, but have no significant relationship with it. It must also be mentioned that the question of religion is the only non-mandatory question in the census of New Zealand. A number of religious denominations such as the Exclusive Brethren (which is not to be mistaken for the Brethren in this particular census) apprise their members not to respond this question. Others. both non-Christian and Christian, prefer not to respond this question for several reasons.

Over half of the population associate with a Christian sect (approximately 2 million). of which over 500,000 are Anglican, more than 400,000 are Catholic, and over 400,000 are Presbyterian. These are the largest Christian denominations in the country. The most prominent non-Christian religions are Hindu. Buddhist, Islam/Muslim, New Age, and Spiritualism religions.

The population of people who have decided not to enter a religious association is also tallied. Lately, there has been a growth in individuals whose religious belief is non-Christian. In the 1996 Census, the population of those practicing Hinduism has grown by 56%, Buddhism by 48%, Islam by 74%, and Spiritualism by 64%. The population of Roman Catholics has grown by almost 13,000 from the period from 1996 to 2001, while the other two largest denominations experienced some decline. Anglicans were down by almost 47,000 and Presbyterians by almost 39,000.
The population of Anglicans topped that of the other groups in all regions except in the city of Auckland (wherein Catholics had the largest denomination), and Southland and Otago (wherein the Presbyterians were dominant). In the Census of 1901, the main denominations were the Anglican Church or Church of England which made up 41% of the population, 23% were Presbyterian, 14% were Catholic, and 11% were Methodist.