This infographic, first produced for Te Matatini 2025, shows some key statistics relating to kapa haka from 2018 Te Kupenga, Wellbeing statistics 2021 and the Tatauranga umanga Māori 2023.
Text description: Kapa Haka and Identity - What the Numbers Tell Us
The data refers to people aged 15 years and over of Māori ethnicity and/or descent.
Kapa haka
Took part in kapa haka as a performer (estimated %, by region)
- Northland: 16.0%
- Auckland: 9.7%
- Waikato: 14.0%
- Bay of Plenty: 16.9%
- Gisborne: 21.2%
- Hawke's Bay: 19.0%
- Taranaki: 14.1%
- Manawatū-Whanganui: 11.2%
- Wellington: 15.7%
- Marlborough/Nelson/Tasman/West Coast: 8.5%
- Canterbury: 12.8%
- Otago/Southland: 10.8%
Kapa haka is a key contributor to the Māori tourism industry with arts and recreation services making up roughly 45% of Māori tourism businesses.
1 in 6 Māori took part in kapa haka.
Took part in kapa haka as a performer (estimated %, by age)
Rangatahi (young people) aged 15-24 years are the age group most likely to participate in kapa haka.
- 15-24 years: 22.5%
- 25-34 years: 14.7%
- 35-44 years: 10.8%
- 45-54 years: 14.3%
- 55+ years: 10.1%
Provided unpaid help to a kapa haka group or event (estimated %)
- 15-24 years: 16.5%
- 25-34 years: 12.6%
- 35-44 years: 15.4%
- 45-54 years: 8.5%
- 55+ years: 12.8%
Whakapapa
- 60% of Māori had discussed or explored their whakapapa.
- 86% said they knew their iwi.
- 98% said they felt connected to their tūrangawaewae (of those who thought of their ancestral marae as their tūrangawaewae).
Embracing our culture
- 50% of Māori had sung a Māori song, performed a haka, or given a mihi or speech.
- Māori aged 25 to 44 years were the most likely to have tā moko.
- More than half of Māori had been to a marae in the last 12 months.
Māori activities and ways of acquiring te reo Māori
Almost 50% of Māori taught or shared Māori culture with others.
Ways of acquiring te reo Māori
- Listening and speaking to parents or other people living at home: 58.9%
- Listening or speaking with relatives, friends, or neighbours not living with you: 68.3%
- Going home with your iwi or hapū area(s): 47.2%
- Kōhanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori, or Wharekura: 34.1%
- Other primary, secondary, or Māori boarding school: 51.5%
- Studying at Māori wānanga: 28.5%
- Studying at other tertiary institutions such as university or polytech: 21.5%
- Going to hui and listening to te reo Māori being spoken: 63.4%
- Work or community-based courses: 27.5%
- Teaching yourself: 61.5%
Kaupapa Māori
- 33% of Māori said they wore Māori-branded clothing.
- 50% said they wore Māori jewellery.
- Wāhine Māori were more likely to attend a Māori festival or event.
Data sources
This infographic was developed to illustrate key results from:
- Te Kupenga 2018, for people of Māori ethnicity and/or descent aged 15 years and over.
- Wellbeing statistics 2021, for people of Māori ethnicity aged 15 years and over.
- Tatauranga umanga Māori 2023, which presents information on two subsets of Māori businesses that contribute to Aotearoa New Zealand's economy: Māori authorities (MAs) and other Māori enterprises (OMEs).
Responses relate to the 12 months prior to the sample periods for Te Kupenga 2018 (June - September 2018) and Wellbeing Statistics 2021 (April - August 2021). Note that the sample period for Wellbeing Statistics 2021 was impacted by COVID-19.
Text description: Te kapa haka me te tuakiri - He aha ngā kōrero a ngā nama nei ki a tātou
E pā ana ngā raraunga i konei ki ngā tāngata 15 ō rātou tau, neke atu, he momo iwi Māori, he uri Māori hoki/rānei.
Te kapa haka
I whai wāhi ki te kapa haka hei kaihaka (te matapae %)
- Te Tai Tokerau: 16.0%
- Tāmakimakaurau: 9.7%
- Waikato: 14.0%
- Te Moana-a-Toi: 16.9%
- Tūranganui-a-Kiwa: 21.2%
- Te Matau-a-Māui: 19.0%
- Taranaki: 14.1%
- Manawatū-Whanganui: 11.2%
- Te Whanganui-a-Tara: 15.7%
- Wairau/Whakatū/Mōhua/Te Tai Poutini: 8.5%
- Waitaha: 12.8%
- Ōtākou/Murihiku: 10.8%
Ko tēnei mea te kapa haka tētehi pou taketake o te ahumahi tāpoi Māori, arā, ka eke ngā ratonga toi, mahi a te rēhia hoki ki tōna 45% o ngā umanga tāpoi Māori.
1 o ngā tāngata Māori e 6 i whai wāhi ki tētahi kapa haka
I whai wāhi ki te kapa haka hei kaihaka (te matapae %)
Ko ngā taiohi 15 ki te 24 ngā tau te reanga ka kitea nuitia i roto i ngā mahi kapa haka.
- 15-24 years: 22.5%
- 25-34 years: 14.7%
- 35-44 years: 10.8%
- 45-54 years: 14.3%
- 55+ years: 10.1%
I mahi aroha hei āwhina i tētahi rōpū kapa haka, i tētahi ahurei kapa haka rānei (matapae %)
- 15-24 years: 16.5%
- 25-34 years: 12.6%
- 35-44 years: 15.4%
- 45-54 years: 8.5%
- 55+ years: 12.8%
Whakapapa
- 60% o ngāi Māori kua noho ki te whakawhiti kōrero, ki te tūhura rānei i tō rātou whakapapa.
- 86% i kī, i mōhio rātou ko wai tō rātou iwi.
- 98% i kī, ki a rātou, i te tūhono rātou ki tō rātou tūrangawaewae (o ērā i whakaaro ko tō rātou marae tuku iho tō rātou tūrangawaewae).
Te hāpai i tō tātou ahurea
- 50% o ngāi Māori kua waiata i tētahi waiata Māori, kua haka, kua mihi, kua tū ki te kōrero rānei.
- Ko ngā tāngata Māori mai i 25 ki te 44 tau te hunga kei runga ake te whāinga tā moko.
- Neke atu i te haurua o ngā tāngata Māori kua tae ki tētahi marae i roto i te 12 marama ka hipa ake nei.
Ko ngā mahi Māori me ngā tikanga ako i te reo Māori
Tata ki te 50% o ngā tāngata Māori e whakaako ana, e tiri ana rānei i te ahurea Māori ki ētahi atu.
Ngā tikanga ako i te reo Māori
- Te whakarongo, te kōrero ki ngā mātua me ētahi atu tāngata e noho ana i te kāinga: 58.9%
- Te whakarongo, te kōrero ki ngā whanaunga, ki ngā hoa, ki ngā kiritata kāore e noho mai i tōu whare: 68.3%
- Te hoki ki te (ngā) rohe o (t)ōu iwi, o (t)ōu hapū rānei: 47.2%
- Te Kōhanga reo, te Kura Kaupapa Māori, te Wharekura rānei: 34.1%
- Ētahi atu kura tuatahi, kura tuarua, kura noho Māori rānei: 51.5%
- Te ako i tētahi wānanga Māori: 28.5%
- Te ako i ētahi atu whare mātauranga matua pēnei i te whare wānanga, i te kuratini rānei: 21.5%
- Te haere ki ngā hui, ki te whakarongo ki te reo Māori e kōrerotia ana: 63.4%
- Ngā kaupapa ako i te wāhi mahi, i te hapori rānei: 27.5%Te whakaako i a koe anō: 61.5%
Ngā Kaupapa Māori
- 33% i kī, i te mau rātou i ngā kākahu mau tohu Māori.
- 50% i kī i te mau rātou i ngā whakakai, tāhei Māori.
- He kaha ake ngā wāhine Māori ki te taetae ake ki tētahi ahurei Māori, ki tētahi hui rānei.
I hangaia tēnei pikitia whakamōhio hei whakaahua i ngā kitenga taketake mai i:
- Te Kupenga 2018, mō ngā tāngata momo iwi Māori, ngā uri Māori hoki/rānei, 15 ō rātou tau, neke atu rānei.
- Ngā tauanga toiora 2021, mō ngā tāngata momo iwi Māori, 15 ō rātou tau, neke atu rānei.
- Tatauranga umanga Māori 2023, e hora nei i ētahi mōhiotanga mō ētahi wehenga whāiti e rua o ngā umanga Māori e tautoko nei i te ōhanga o Aotearoa: Ngā uepū Māori (MA) me ētahi atu hinonga Māori (OME).
E pā ana ēnei urupare ki ngā marama 12 o mua atu i ngā takiwā whakamātautau mō Te Kupenga 2018 (Hune - Hepetema 2018) me ngā Tauanga Toiora 2021 (Āperira - Ākuhata 2021). Kia mārama hoki, i pāngia te takiwā whakamātautau mō ngā Tauanga Toiora 2021 e te KŌWHEORI-19.
