Selective under-representation of Pacific peoples in population estimates for health indicator measurements in Aotearoa New Zealand misinforms policy making

Table 2 Census 2018 usually resident population and Estimated Resident Population (ERP), with key population statistics, imputed administrative enumerations and estimated undercount by non-prioritised ethnic group. All percentages are relative to the ERP

Source	Māori	Pacific	Non-Māori Non-Pacific	Total
Individual form^a (response rate)^b	551,000 (68%)	259,000 (65%)	3,613,000 (86%)	4,423,000 (82%)
Household form^c	49,000 (6%)	33,000 (8%)	151,000 (4%)	233,000 (4%)
Admin enumerations^d	176,000 (22%)	90,000 (22%)	351,000 (8%)	617,000 (11%)
Census Usually Resident Population	776,000 (96%)	382,000 (95%)	4,116,000 (98%)	5,274,000 (97%)
Estimated Post Enumeration Survey (PES) undercount^e	35,000 (4%)	20,000 (5%)	87,000 (2%)	142,000 (3%)
Estimated Resident Population (ERP)	811,000 (100%)	401,000 (100%)	4,203,000 (100%)	5,415,000 (100%)^f

Source: Tatauranga Aotearoa StatsNZ. Post-enumeration survey 2018: Methods and results. https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/post-enumeration-survey-2018-methods-and-results/
^aOnly from individuals who filled out an individual form, standardised uniform information on ethnicity is collected
^bThe response rate is the number of individuals filling out an individual form divided by the ERP
^cIndividuals who did not fill out an individual form but were on a household listing only. These individuals are not asked to which ethnic group they belong
^dBefore 2018, administrative data was used to impute missing data on census forms. In 2018, because of the low response rates, people who were missing in census response were included if they had been active in tax, health, education, and ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) in the past 2 years. Admin data are not collected in a standardised manner
^eEstimated census undercount based on Post-Enumeration Survey
^fERP is higher than the population total, since ERP is reported by total ethnicity (instead of prioritised ethnicity)

ISSN: 1471-2458