KOREAN COMMUNITY
Connecting with New Zealand’s Korean community.
Practical audience insight for organisations wanting to communicate with Korean communities across Aotearoa.
AUDIENCE SNAPSHOT
Korean New Zealanders at a glance.
A quick starting point for planning. Ethnicity is self-identified and people can belong to more than one ethnic group.
NEW ZEALAND
38,934
people identify as Korean
MEDIAN AGE
36.1
years
BORN OVERSEAS
81.9%
of the Korean ethnic group
MULTILINGUAL
59.9%
speak more than one language
AUDIENCE INTELLIGENCE
What the numbers tell us.
Useful Census indicators add context to the audience profile. They are a planning starting point rather than a substitute for cultural understanding and community knowledge.
36.1
median age
years
81.9%
born overseas
Korean ethnic group
59.9%
multilingual
speak more than one language
58.7%
post-school qualified
adults with a post-school qualification
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR MARKETERS
The Korean population has a very high overseas-born share and strong multilingual characteristics. Korean-language and community media can therefore be highly relevant, but channel and language choices should reflect generation, age and the purpose of the communication.
POPULATION CHANGEHow has this community changed?+9.2%2018 → 2023
CENSUS COMPARISON
Korean population growth, 2018–2023.
New Zealand’s Korean population increased by 3,270 people between the last two Censuses — from 35,664 in 2018 to 38,934 in 2023.
The Korean population continued to grow between 2018 and 2023, although at a more moderate rate than several other Asian communities. Auckland concentration remains an important consideration for efficient campaign planning.
Source: Stats NZ, 2018 and 2023 Censuses. Ethnicity is self-identified and people may belong to more than one ethnic group. Counts use fixed random rounding.
PLANNING A CAMPAIGN?
Need to reach Korean audiences?
We can help with audience, messaging and specialist media planning.
Source: Stats NZ, 2023 Census. Counts use the census usually resident population and fixed random rounding.
UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCE
One label does not describe every Korean New Zealander.
Effective engagement starts by recognising diversity within Korean communities in Aotearoa. Cultural background, language, religion, age, migration history and whether someone was born in New Zealand can all influence how people connect with organisations and media.
Campaign planning should therefore begin with the specific audience you need to reach rather than assuming one message, image or channel will represent everyone.
CAMPAIGN CONSIDERATIONS
What to think about before you communicate.
01
Culture & community
Understand who the campaign is for, the communities involved and the cultural context around the subject before deciding how to communicate.
02
Language
English may be appropriate for many campaigns, but language choices should follow the audience and purpose. Translation alone is not a substitute for culturally relevant communication.
03
Representation
Use people, imagery and stories that feel credible to the audience. Community input can help avoid generic or tokenistic representation.
04
Trust & connection
Consider trusted community organisations, specialist media and existing relationships alongside mainstream and digital channels.
MEDIA & REACH
Reach matters. Relevance matters more.
The right mix may include specialist community media, digital channels, community organisations and mainstream platforms. Niche Media helps define the audience and approach; BECNZ helps identify the specialist media options.
BECNZ
Specialist media discovery
Find publishers, platforms and community channels relevant to the audience you need to reach.
CAMPAIGN OPPORTUNITIES
Timing and context can make the difference.
Community events, cultural dates, partnerships and local activity can create useful opportunities for engagement. The strongest campaigns use these moments because they are relevant, not simply because they appear on a calendar.
ASK NICHE
Turn Korean audience insight into a practical campaign brief
Use Ask Niche to build a stronger starting point for your campaign — from audience and messaging considerations through to location, media and support needs.
EXPLORE MORE AUDIENCES