PACIFIC COMMUNITY
Connecting with New Zealand’s Pacific community.
Practical audience insight for organisations wanting to communicate with Pacific communities across Aotearoa.
AUDIENCE SNAPSHOT
Pacific 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
Pacific peoples in the 2023 Census
SHARE OF NZ
of New Zealand’s population
AUCKLAND
of Pacific peoples live in the Auckland region
NZ-BORN
of Pacific peoples were born in New Zealand
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.
median age
Pacific peoples
under 30
30.7% under 15 + 28.0% aged 15–29
live in Auckland
of the Pacific population
NZ-born
Pacific peoples born in New Zealand
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR MARKETERS
Pacific peoples have a notably young age profile and a strong Auckland concentration, while more than two-thirds are New Zealand-born. Planning should recognise both the shared Pacific context and the distinct languages, cultures and community networks within individual Pacific communities.
POPULATION CHANGE How has this community changed? +16.0%2018 → 2023
CENSUS COMPARISON
Pacific population growth, 2018–2023.
New Zealand’s Pacific population increased by 60,990 people between the last two Censuses — from 381,642 in 2018 to 442,632 in 2023.
Pacific peoples increased by 60,990 between the two Censuses. The growing scale of Pacific audiences strengthens the case for planning that recognises distinct communities rather than treating Pacific peoples as one uniform market.
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 Pacific 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 Pacific New Zealander.
Effective engagement starts by recognising diversity within Pacific 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 Pacific 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.
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