Dataset methodologies

Number of languages spoken

See Languages spoken for further information.

Information about other relevant variables can be found here:

Iwi affiliation

For statistical purposes, Stats NZ defines iwi as a whakapapa-based kinship grouping that generally has several hapū, one or more active marae, and a recognised structure that represents the interests of the iwi, such as a rōpū whakahaere, committee, or board.

‘Iwi affiliation’ is a multiple-response variable, so the total number of responses will be greater than the number of respondents.

Overall quality rating

Moderate quality

Data sources

Alternative data sources were used for missing census responses and responses that could not be classified or did not provide the type of information asked for. The table below shows the distribution of data sources for iwi affiliation data.

Data sources for iwi affiliation data, as a percentage of Māori descent census usually resident population count, 2023 Census

Source of iwi affiliation data	Percent
2023 Census response	73.2
Parental data from 2023 Census response	12.1
Historical census response	8.5
Parental data from historical census response	1.7
Admin data	1.9
Parental data from admin data	0.2
No information	2.5
Total	100.0
Note: Due to rounding, individual figures may not always sum to the stated total(s).

Alternative data sources for iwi affiliation were introduced for the first time in the 2023 Census.

Historical census responses from the 2018 and 2013 Censuses were combined together.

The following admin-data sources were used, in this priority order:

Ministry of Education tertiary data and Ministry of Social Development student loans and allowances data (combined together)
Ministry of Education schools data.

Parental responses from 2023 Census responses, historical census responses, and admin data were also used where parental relationships were found in Department of Internal Affairs data.

Data sources and methodology for iwi affiliation in the 2023 Census provides more detailed explanations about the data sources for iwi affiliation in the 2023 Census.

Editing, data sources, and imputation in the 2023 Census describes how data quality is improved by editing, and how missing and residual responses are filled with alternative data sources (admin data and historical census responses).

Recommendations for use and further information

When using this data users should be aware of the following:

The design of the 2023 Census online form may have impacted the way respondents have responded to the iwi affiliation question for ‘Tainui Awhiro’, ‘Waikato’, and ‘Tainui, iwi not named’. The proportion of online respondents saying they affiliate with ‘0312 Tainui Awhiro’ was high, while the proportion of online respondents saying they affiliate with ‘0304 Waikato’ and ‘2001 Tainui, iwi not named’ was much lower than previous censuses. The ‘0312 Tainui Awhiro’ category was added to the classification for 2023 and was therefore available as one of the listed iwi to select. In the past, people who said they affiliate with ‘Tainui Awhiro’ would have been coded to ‘0304 Waikato’. Also, in the past many people said they affiliate with ‘Tainui’ (which would have been coded to ‘2001 Tainui, iwi not named’) or ‘Tainui Waikato’ (which would have been coded to ‘0304 Waikato’).
Iwi recently added to the classification are not found in the admin data from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Development. This is because the data was collected using older versions of the iwi classification.
Data sources and methodology for iwi affiliation in the 2023 Census explains how this was taken into account when determining the order in which the alternative data sources were used. This is because there is a risk these iwi could be undercounted.
Because the online map and as-you-type lists (AYT) did not present any iwi-related categories (for example, the ‘Confederations and waka’, ‘iwi named, region not known’, ‘Hapū are affiliated to more than one iwi’, or ‘Region known, iwi not named’ categories), fewer people provided these types of responses in the 2023 Census. However, some people who did not answer the iwi affiliation question were coded to these categories using the alternative data sources. In particular, ‘2004 Aotea, iwi not named’ has seen a large increase in its count because of the use of admin data.
‘Don’t know’ responses are less likely to be found in admin data. Because of this, the number of people who don’t know their iwi may be undercounted.
Iwi affiliation data from the 2018 Census is not suitable for providing an official iwi count. Published timeseries data will only include iwi data for the 2013 and 2023 Censuses.

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