The 2018 census data on religion shows a very diverse range of beliefs across about half the population, with the other half of those prepared to state a religion saying ‘No religion’ :
- No religion 47.8%
- Christianity (many variants) 36.7%
- Hinduism 2.6%
- Maori religion 1.3%
- Islam 1.3%
- Buddhism 1.1%
- New Age etc 0.4%
- Judaism 0.1%
- Other 1.9%
- Object to stating 6.6%
Chart source: Nick Thompson @sutfor
Religious affiliation | Census usually resident population count |
No Religion | 2,264,601 |
ACTS Churches | 5,460 |
Adventist nec | 54 |
Adventist nfd | 378 |
Agnosticism | 6,516 |
Ahmadiyya Muslim | 369 |
Anglican | 314,913 |
Animist | 273 |
Arise Church | 1,641 |
Arya Samaj | 36 |
Assemblies of God | 14,883 |
Associated Churches of Christ | 1,176 |
Assyrian Orthodox | 327 |
Atheism | 7,068 |
Baha’i | 2,925 |
Baptist nec | 12 |
Baptist nfd | 35,967 |
Bible Baptist | 846 |
Born Again | 33,486 |
Brethren nec | 147 |
Brethren nfd | 1,551 |
Buddhism nec | 51 |
Buddhism nfd | 44,355 |
Cao Dai | 6 |
Catholicism nec | 1,086 |
Catholicism nfd | 173,016 |
Chaldean Catholic | 534 |
Chinese Christian | 6,660 |
Chinese Presbyterian | 327 |
Chinese Religions nec | 18 |
Chinese Religions nfd | 276 |
Christadelphian | 1,758 |
Christian and Missionary Alliance | 2,094 |
Christian Fellowship | 18,042 |
Christian nec | 642 |
Christian nfd | 307,926 |
Christian Outreach | 1,554 |
Christian Revival Crusade | 576 |
Christian Science | 639 |
Church of Christ nfd | 1,302 |
Church of God | 1,458 |
Church of Scientology | 321 |
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster | 4,248 |
City Impact Church | 441 |
Commonwealth Covenant Church | 3 |
Confucianism | 99 |
Congregational | 3,513 |
Conservative Judaism | 327 |
Cook Island Congregational | 1,698 |
Coptic Orthodox | 546 |
Deism | 150 |
Destiny Church | 1,722 |
Druid | 189 |
Ecumenical | 69 |
Elim | 3,018 |
Equippers Church | 705 |
Evangelical | 4,554 |
Falun Gong | 105 |
Full Gospel | 1,017 |
Fundamentalist | 87 |
Greek Orthodox | 3,162 |
Hare Krishna | 645 |
Hinduism nec | 882 |
Hinduism nfd | 121,644 |
Humanism | 663 |
Independent Baptist | 1,218 |
Independent Evangelical Churches | 750 |
Independent Pentecostal | 954 |
Islam nec | 36 |
Islam nfd | 57,276 |
Jainism | 612 |
Japanese Religion nec | 18 |
Japanese Religion nfd | 33 |
Jedi | 20,409 |
Jehovah’s Witnesses | 20,061 |
Jesus Follower | 1,575 |
Judaism nfd | 3,348 |
Korean Christian | 3,543 |
Korean Presbyterian | 2,820 |
Latter-day Saints | 54,123 |
Liberal Catholic | 2,115 |
Libertarianism | 9 |
Lutheran | 3,585 |
Mahayana Buddhism | 1,026 |
Mahikari | 138 |
Maoism | 6 |
Māori Religions, Beliefs and Philosophies nec | 1,584 |
Māori Religions, Beliefs and Philosophies nfd | 3,699 |
Maronite Catholic | 96 |
Marxism | 12 |
Melkite Catholic | 33 |
Methodist nec | 3,657 |
Methodist nfd | 52,734 |
Metropolitan Community Church | 63 |
Nature and Earth Based Religions nec | 648 |
Nature and Earth Based Religions nfd | 807 |
Nazarene | 564 |
New Age nfd | 363 |
New Life | 3,132 |
Nichiren Buddhism | 768 |
Open Brethren | 5,640 |
Orthodox Judaism | 792 |
Orthodox nec | 1,440 |
Orthodox nfd | 4,503 |
Other Church of Christ and Churches of Christ nec | 780 |
Other New Age Religions nec | 1,311 |
Other Religions, Beliefs and Philosophies nec | 297 |
Other Religions, Beliefs and Philosophies nfd | 1,434 |
Pagan | 2,730 |
Paimarire | 1,194 |
Pantheist | 453 |
Pentecostal nec | 1,911 |
Pentecostal nfd | 22,296 |
Plymouth or Exclusive Brethren | 6,822 |
Presbyterian | 221,199 |
Protestant nfd | 8,544 |
Rastafarianism | 1,707 |
Ratana | 43,821 |
Rationalism | 9 |
Reformed | 5,418 |
Reformed Baptist | 987 |
Reformed Judaism | 807 |
Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) | 954 |
Revival Centres | 180 |
Ringatū | 12,336 |
Roman Catholic | 295,743 |
Russian Orthodox | 2,952 |
Salvation Army | 7,929 |
Samoan Congregational | 7,932 |
Satanism | 1,149 |
Serbian Orthodox | 936 |
Seventh Day Adventist | 17,799 |
Shi’a | 651 |
Shinto | 387 |
Sikhism | 40,908 |
Socialism | 15 |
Spiritualist | 8,262 |
Sufi | 162 |
Sunni | 2,961 |
Syro-Malabar Catholic | 483 |
Taoism | 1,098 |
Tenrikyo | 12 |
Theism | 2,607 |
Theravada Buddhism | 4,851 |
Tongan Methodist | 11,169 |
Ukrainian Catholic | 39 |
Unification Church (Moonist) | 93 |
Unitarian | 354 |
United Pentecostal | 690 |
Uniting/Union Church | 3,624 |
Vajrayana Buddhism | 327 |
Vineyard Christian Fellowship | 3,399 |
Wesleyan Methodist | 4,623 |
Wiccan | 1,482 |
Worldwide Church of God | 279 |
Yoga | 327 |
Zen Buddhism | 1,401 |
Zoroastrian | 1,068 |
Object to answering | 312,795 |
Total people stated | 4,699,755 |
nfd=not further defined
Stats NZ
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2018-census-totals-by-topic-national-highlights