Census reveals decline in number of NZ Catholics

By CathNews New Zealand

June 6th, 2025

(NASA/Wikimedia Commons)

Catholics are still the largest religious group in Aotearoa New Zealand, but their numbers fell by 23,000 in five years, according to Census data. Source: Statistics New Zealand.

Statistics New Zealand data revealed the total number of people who stated their religious affiliation was “Catholicism” or “Roman Catholic” in the 2023 Census was 445,704. The figure for the 2018 Census was 468,759, meaning the decline was about 5 per cent during that five-year period.

Over the same period, New Zealand’s population grew from 4.7 million to 5.0 million, an increase of 6.4 per cent.

The number of people who declared “no religion” as their religious affiliation jumped from 2.26 million in 2018 to 2.58 million in 2023, an increase of 14 per cent.

While the Catholic population fell by 5 per cent, the declines for other mainstream Protestant denominations in the 2023 Census were much larger.

Anglicans declined by 22 per cent, Baptists by 20 per cent and Presbyterians by 19 per cent. Methodists declined by 13 per cent, when all the different categories of that denomination are tallied. The 2023 Census figures were 245,301 Anglicans, 179,535 Presbyterians, 28,548 Baptists and 62,766 Methodists.

The percentage of people in New Zealand who identified as Christian of any denomination dropped from 36.5 per cent in 2018 to 32.3 per cent in 2023.

Census data showed that the number of people who identify as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) held steady at 54,348 in 2023, as against 54,123 in 2018.

Significant growth occurred in the figure for Islamic religious affiliation, with 145,000 people identifying as Islamic in the 2023 Census, whereas the 2018 figure was 118,000. The number of Hindus increased from 2.3 per cent of the population in 2018 to 2.6 per cent in 2023.

Commenting last year on the growth of the “no religion” category, Massey University Professor Emeritus of History Peter Lineham said there has been a gradual decline of people affiliated to Christianity in particular.

“The shift is taking place in younger people who no longer see any need to connect with a religious organisation unless they have a strong commitment to it,” he said.

FULL STORY

Religious affiliation census 2023 data (Statistics NZ)

2023 Census population, dwelling, and housing highlights | Stats NZ (Statistics NZ)

Census data NZ: More than half of the population has no religion (New Zealand Herald)