One of these changes has been a substantial alteration in the ethnic composition of its population. A recent Asia New Zealand Foundation report has outlined the nature of this change in relation to the growth of New Zealand’s Asian population and the demographic implications of this.
This report shows that despite a relatively small Asian population through much of the 20th century, the origins of local Asian residents stretch back to the 1800s. While people born in the British Isles have always formed a large share of the Christchurch population, the most notable recent change has been among Asian-born people – from fewer than 3,000 in 1986 to about 22,000 in two decades. The most dramatic aspect of the Chinese population is its relative youth, emphasising the importance of international students: more than a quarter of all Chinese in the Canterbury region are 20 to 24 years old. Altogether, just under a half of all Chinese are aged between 15 and 30.