Niue Census of Population and Housing, 2022

Statistical Release: Niue Census of Population and Housing, November 2022 Preliminary Report  

On Friday 11th of November 2022, the Niue Statistics Office conducted the enumeration of the 11th National Population and Household census since 1971 under Niue’s Act. This is one of the most important activities undertaken by the Niue Statistics Office.

The purpose of the census is to capture the population status of Niue at a certain point of time. The information obtained from the census is very crucial in assisting Government with developments and decision makers on evidence-based policy formulation for the benefit of the people as well as communities and organisations within and outside of Niue.

This report was compiled with assistance from Statistics New Zealand and the Pacific Community

The full PRELIMINARY REPORT is available for download here

1.0. CENSUS NIGHT POPULATION COUNT

On census night there was a total of 1,681 people counted in Niue, made up of 1,564 who identified as usual residents and 117 who considered themselves to be visitors to Niue. 

Table 1.1: Total census night population of Niue 2022

Overall, the Niue census night population decreased by 2.2% (38 people) compared to 2017.

By village, the census night populations showed Toi with the largest population increase in terms of percentage (increasing by 88.2%), though this is equivalent to an increase of only 15 people in the village total population. Alofi North (19.1%) and Makefu (14.1%) were the next largest percentage increases in population. In terms of villages to show a census night population decrease, Mutalau and Vaiea both had decreases of 21.4% as compared to the 2017 count.

Table 1.2: Total census night population by village distribution, 2017 and 2022  

Village	Total Population and Distribution				Population change
	2017		2022
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Alofi South	413	24.0	423	25.2	10	2.4
Alofi North	157	9.1	187	11.1	30	19.1
Makefu	64	3.7	73	4.3	9	14.1
Tuapa	106	6.2	103	6.1	-3	-2.8
Namukulu	10	0.6	9	0.5	-1	-10.0
Hikutavake	45	2.6	39	2.3	-6	-13.3
Toi	17	1.0	32	1.9	15	88.2
Mutalau	98	5.7	77	4.6	-21	-21.4
Lakepa	91	5.3	95	5.7	4	4.4
Liku	88	5.1	74	4.4	-14	-15.9
Hakupu	190	11.1	180	10.7	-10	-5.3
Vaiea	103	6.0	81	4.8	-22	-21.4
Avatele	139	8.1	128	7.6	-11	-7.9
Tamakautoga	198	11.5	180	10.7	-18	-9.1
Total	1,719	100	1,681	100	-38	-2.2

By sex, females outnumbered males by 854 to 827 among the census night population – giving a ratio of 96.8 males per 100 females.

Table 1.3: Total census night population by sex, 2022

Village	Males	Females	Total
Alofi South	204	219	423
Alofi North	97	90	187
Makefu	33	40	73
Tuapa	51	52	103
Namukulu	6	3	9
Hikutavake	19	20	39
Toi	12	20	32
Mutalau	35	42	77
Lakepa	56	39	95
Liku	37	37	74
Hakupu	94	86	180
Vaiea	34	47	81
Avatele	60	68	128
Tamakautoga	89	91	180
Total	827	854	1,681

By age, the single largest age-band is in the 10–14-year-old age group with 170 people. Counts of ages begin to decline after 35-39 age group, before picking up again around 55-59 and 60-64 years of age. From 65 the counts decline again as would be expected due to life-expectancy factors.

Table 1.4: Total census night population by age (5-year age bands) and sex, 2022

Age groups	Males	Females	Total	Percentage (%)
0-4 years	55	60	115	6.8
5-9 years	77	62	139	8.3
10-14 years	79	91	170	10.1
15-19 years	68	60	128	7.6
20-24 years	26	40	66	3.9
25-29 years	41	46	87	5.2
30-34 years	52	45	97	5.8
35-39 years	55	63	118	7.0
40-44 years	50	49	99	5.9
45-49 years	44	45	89	5.3
50-54 years	40	41	81	4.8
55-59 years	58	54	112	6.7
60-64 years	56	58	114	6.8
65-69 years	49	41	90	5.4
70-74 years	30	41	71	4.2
75-79 years	25	23	48	2.9
80-84 years	13	23	36	2.1
85+ years	9	12	21	1.2
Total	827	854	1681	100

Looking at ages by “life-stage”, in particular at just the census night usual resident population (N=1,564), we can see that 26.3 percent of the population are under the age of 15, while 22.3 percent of the population are over the age of retirement (which is 60 years old in Niue). This leaves 51.5 percent of the population of “working age”. With children and the retired defined as “dependent”, Niue’s dependency ratio calculates at 94 dependents per 100 people of working age.

Table 1.5: Census night usual resident population by “life stage” age and sex

Life stage	2017				2022
	Male	Female	Total	Percent	Male	Female	Total	Percent
Child (0-14)	217	230	447	28.1	203	206	409	26.2
Working age adult (15-59)	411	435	846	53.2	398	408	806	51.5
Retirement age (60+)	134	164	298	18.7	162	187	349	22.3
Total	762	829	1591	100	763	801	1564	100
Median age	33				35
Dependency ratio	88.1				94.0
Sex ratio	91.9				95.3

94 represents a very high dependency ratio, even for Pacific nations where migration of working age population is a major population dynamic. As a comparison, the recent (2021) Cook Island census reported a dependency ratio of 72 dependents per 100 people of working age. For Samoa (also 2021) the ratio was 79 (using 15-64 years as the “working age” definition).

Niue’s median age has increased from 33 to 35 between the 2017 and 2022 Census.

2.0. USUAL RESIDENTS ABSENT FROM NIUE ON CENSUS NIGHT

On census night a total of 139 people were absent from their usual residence. Of these, 14 were reported as spending census night in Niue but at another address. These people will be presumed to have been counted in the census night count of the place where they spent the night of census.

This leaves 125 people who were reported as absent overseas on census night. These people absent from Niue will be counted as usual residents regardless of how long they have been out of Niue – 21 were reported as being away for more than 12 months, with 104 away for less than 12 months.

Table 2.1: Usual residents absent reported by household by census night location

Absence location	Count
Absent elsewhere in Niue	14
Absent overseas	125
Total absentees from usual residence on census night	139

Note, the methodology of reporting absentees in census requires at least one person from the dwelling to be home and able to report any people being absent. There is no means to account for absentees where nobody was home to report absent people. So, for example, a household where all members left for overseas before census day (and were yet to return) would have none of the members counted using a traditional census methodology. Other sources of information may help to estimate the numbers of people absent (eg migration data) however this would require further investigation and analysis to account for these people.

3.0. USUAL RESIDENT POPULATION COUNT

The usual resident population of Niue is made up of the usual residents counted on census night (1,564) together with those who were absent from Niue on census night (125). This makes the usually resident population count on census night 1,689.

Table 3.1: Total usual resident population of Niue 2022

The Niue Census allowed for self-identification as a usual resident of Niue. The 1,564 usual residents counted in Niue on Census night included 48 people who gave an overseas usual residence but did not consider themselves to be a visitor to Niue. For these people, the village where they were counted on census night is substituted for their overseas address.

Additionally, people who were counted at a place that was not at their usual residence were repatriated to their usual village of residence.

4.0. DWELLING COUNTS

A total of 525 occupied dwellings were interviewed for census, with that number made up of 513 private dwellings, 11 non-private dwellings and 1 dwelling (in Alofi South) where the type could not be determined.

Using the usual resident population count of 1,689 and the 513 private dwelling counts, we can calculate the average household size for Niue is 3.2. This compares to an average household size of 3.3 in 2017.

As part of the census field work, enumerators visited dwellings that were unoccupied and determined whether they were:

• occupied, but all residents were away at the time of census (absent)
• unoccupied at the time of census, but able to be inhabited (vacant)
• derelict (assessed as not in a fit state for human habitation), or
• under construction.

In total, 1,053 dwellings were visited and assessed in this way with the following results

Table 4.1: Dwellings counted in Niue census by village and occupancy status

Village	Occupied at time of Census	Unoccupied at time of census				Total
		Absent household	Vacant	Derelict	Under construction
Alofi South	148	20	28	8	5	209
Alofi North	50	14	23	12	2	101
Makefu	23	2	5	14	–	44
Tuapa	30	5	3	14	–	52
Namukulu	4	–	6	6	–	16
Hikutavake	13	7	7	10	1	38
Toi	12	–	4	8	–	24
Mutalau	30	4	16	51	2	103
Lakepa	31	3	26	18	2	80
Liku	27	9	11	27	4	78
Hakupu	56	11	31	20	2	120
Vaiea	17	1	4	3	–	25
Avatele	40	6	19	22	1	88
Tamakautoga	44	3	24	4	–	75
Total	525	85	207	217	19	1,053

For more information, download the full the report.

If you have any questions, contact the Niue Statistics Office