Census shows quarter of New Zealand population born overseas

This year's Census results showed a quarter of New Zealand's population was born overseas and one in eight people living in New Zealand are Asian.

Results released by Statistics New Zealand on Tuesday showed that over 65 percent of the Asian population live in the Auckland region.

Census general manager Sarah Minson said that spike is also reflected in the popularity of the languages spoken, with Hindi replacing French as the fourth most common language.

Minson said Maori is still second behind English as the most common language in New Zealand, but the number of Te Reo speakers has fallen by over 4 percent.

Overall, the census shows New Zealand's population growth is slowing - up by just over 200,000 to 4.42 million since 2006 - but the numbers of those aged in their 50s and 60s are on the increase.

Asia NZ Foundation chairman Philip Burdon said on Tuesday the ethnicity results reflected immigration policy changes in the mid 1980s and the country's increasing economic ties with Asia.

"Whether New Zealand-born or immigrants, Asian New Zealanders have made numerous contributions to every aspect of NewZealand society over more than 150 years," he said.