Towards Achieving a More Accurate Population Count for Peoples of Fiji Living in Aotearoa

Relying solely on aggregated ethnicity-based population counts has limited utility for ethnic minority groups. Accurate and relevant population counts are critical for monitoring and improving outcomes related to health, social welfare, and education. This article examines additional dimensions of identity to provide a revised estimate of the total population count for Peoples of Fiji (PF) living in Aotearoa. Customized data tables from the Census of Population and Dwellings, provided by Statistics New Zealand, were analyzed using ethnicity and additional recorded characteristics, such as country of birth, and parents’ ethnicity, to obtain more accurate counts for the major ethnic groups from Fiji living in Aotearoa. Our analysis revealed that almost 50,000 Fijian Indians were misclassified. Utilizing additional variables, we estimate the revised count for the Fijian Indian ethnic group alone exceeds 70,000 and the PF total count exceeds 2% of Aotearoa’s current population. Accurate population counts and granularity within aggregated groups are essential for informing funding formulas and health policies. We highlight significant variations in ethnicity coding for PF and their implications for health monitoring and risk assessment, data quality, and interpretation. We make key recommendations to improve granular reporting for minority migrant groups in Aotearoa.