Tuvaluan New Zealanders

The Tuvaluan New Zealand community consists of 4,653 Tuvaluans living in New Zealand. About 46% were born overseas and nearly 80% of them live in Auckland.

History

Due to global warming, Tuvalu's land is under threat from rising sea levels. In response to this risk, in 2002, the Tuvaluan government made an agreement with New Zealand which would allow the migration of all 11,000 Tuvaluans into New Zealand. The New Zealand Census indicates a higher proportion of Tuvaluans being born in Tuvalu, which illustrates the significance of New Zealand as a long term destination for Tuvaluan migrants.
New Zealand has an annual quota of 75 Tuvaluans to be granted work permits under the Pacific Access Category, as announced in 2001. Tuvaluans also have access to seasonal employment in the horticulture and viticulture industries in New Zealand under the Recognised Seasonal Employer Work Policy introduced in 2007, allowing for employment of up to 5,000 workers from Tuvalu and other Pacific islands.

Demographics

According to the 2006 Census, there were 2,625 Tuvaluans in New Zealand. This number has since grown to 3,537 in 2013 and 4,653 in 2018.
About 88% of Tuvaluan New Zealanders are English speakers and approximately 42% can speak another language, mainly the Tuvaluan language.

Religion

The vast majority of Tuvaluan New Zealanders follow Christianity while 8% of them don't identify with a religion, according to the most recent New Zealand Census.
In 1992, the Tuvalu Community Church congregation of Henderson, Auckland was established. In 2021, the first Tuvaluan Congregational church was opened. It was designed by South Pacific Architecture, which won a Public Architecture Award at the 2021 Auckland Architecture Awards.