Demographics of the Cook Islands

Demographic features of the population of the Cook Islands include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

A census is carried out every five years in the Cook Islands. The last census was carried out in 2021 and the next census will be carried out in 2026.[1]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1902 8,213—    
1906 8,518+3.7%
1911 8,655+1.6%
1916 8,805+1.7%
1921 9,459+7.4%
1926 10,082+6.6%
1936 12,246+21.5%
1945 14,088+15.0%
1951 15,079+7.0%
1961 18,378+21.9%
1966 19,247+4.7%
1971 21,322+10.8%
1976 18,126−15.0%
1981 17,743−2.1%
1986 17,614−0.7%
1996 19,103+8.5%
2001 18,027−5.6%
2006 19,342+7.3%
2011 17,794−8.0%
2016 17,434−2.0%
2021 15,040−13.7%
Source:[2][3]

Vital statistics

Births and deaths[4]
Year Population Live births Deaths Natural increase Crude birth rate Crude death rate Rate of natural increase TFR
[clarification needed]
2001 18,027 315 88 227 21.0 2.9
2002 279 97 182
2003 294 92 202
2004 15,169 297 99 198
2005 275 91 184
2006 19,342 279 85 194 19.1 6.5 12.6 2.5
2007 296 84 212
2008 261 56 205
2009 255 67 188 12.6 3.2 9.4
2010 286 92 194 12.1 3.9 8.2
2011 19,300 262 72 190 17.8 4.9 12.9 2.6
2012 19,500 259 104 155 18.1 7.3 10.8
2013 18,600 256 115 141 18.2 8.2 10.0
2014 18,600 204 113 91 15.0 8.3 6.7
2015 18,400 205 102 103 15.5 7.7 7.8
2016 19,300 242 87 155 20.5 7.4 13.1 2.5
2017 19,500 222 93 129 14.2 6.0 8.3
2018 20,200 232 121 111 14.6 7.6 7.0
2019 20,200 225 105 120 13.1 6.1 7.0
2020 16,500 248 125 123 13.9 7.0 6.9
2021 18,200 202 122 80 11.6 7.0 4.6
2022 20,500 233 117 116 13.2 6.6 6.6
2023 21,600 212 165 47 12.6 9.8 2.8

Structure of the population

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 01.XII.2016): [5]
Age Group Male Female Total %
Total 8 520 8 914 17 434 100
0–4 710 644 1 354 7.77
5–9 768 733 1 501 8.61
10–14 745 696 1 441 8.27
15–19 664 711 1 375 7.89
20–24 569 656 1 225 7.03
25–29 541 612 1 153 6.61
30–34 482 595 1 077 6.18
35–39 483 533 1 016 5.83
40–44 520 601 1 121 6.43
45–49 599 625 1 224 7.02
50–54 642 623 1 265 7.26
55–59 521 522 1 043 5.98
60–64 405 429 834 4.78
65–69 363 333 696 3.99
70–74 234 248 482 2.76
75–79 159 194 353 2.02
80+ 115 159 274 1.57
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 2 223 2 073 4 296 24.64
15–64 5 426 5 907 11 333 65.01
65+ 871 934 1 805 10.35

Religion

Main article: Religion in the Cook Islands

Religion in the Cook Islands (CIA World Factbook)

  Reformed Church (Cook Islands Christian Church) (49.1%)
  Adventism (Seventh-day Adventist Church) (7.9%)
  Pentecostalism (Assemblies of God, Apostolic Church) (5.8%)
  Catholicism (17%)
  Mormonism (4.4%)
  Other (8%)
  No religion (5.6%)
  No response (2.2%)

The Cook Islands are majority-Protestant, with almost half the population being members of the Reformed Cook Islands Christian Church. Other Protestant denominations include Seventh-day Adventists, Assemblies of God and the Apostolic Church (the latter two being Pentecostal denominations). The largest non-Protestant denomination are Roman Catholics, followed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Non-Christian faiths including Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam have small followings primarily by non-indigenous inhabitants.[6][7]

Ethnic groups

Main article: Cook Islanders

The indigenous Polynesian people of the Cook Islands are known as Cook Islands Māori. These include speakers of Cook Islands Māori language, closely related to Tahitian and New Zealand Māori, who form the majority of the population and inhabit the southern islands including Rarotonga;[8] and also the people of Pukapuka, who speak a language more closely related to Samoan.[9] Cook Islanders of non-indigenous descent include other Pacific Island peoples, Papa'a (Europeans), and those of Asian descent.

Ethnic group[10] Population Percent
of total		 Change
[clarification needed]
2006 2016
Cook Islands Māori 14,938 11,575 78.20 Decrease
Part Cook Islands Māori 1,045 1,128 7.62 Increase
Other 1,349 2,099 14.18 Increase
Cook Islands, Total 17,332 14,802 100 Decrease

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

Population pyramid 2011[11]
%MalesAgeFemales%
0
 
 85+
 
 0
0.5
 
 80–84
 
 0.6
0.7
 
 75–79
 
 0.9
1.4
 
 70–74
 
 1.4
1.9
 
 65–69
 
 1.8
2.2
 
 60–64
 
 2
2.4
 
 55–59
 
 2.4
3
 
 50–54
 
 3
3.6
 
 45–49
 
 3.6
3.4
 
 40–44
 
 3.6
3.1
 
 35–39
 
 3.6
3
 
 30–34
 
 3.3
3.3
 
 25–29
 
 3.8
3.4
 
 20–24
 
 3.7
4.3
 
 15–19
 
 4.1
4.5
 
 10–14
 
 4
4.3
 
 5–9
 
 4.3
4.5
 
 0–4
 
 4.4

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Census - Cook Islands - Ministry of Finance and Economic Management". Archived from the original on 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  2. ^ "Census 2016 - Cook Islands - Ministry of Finance and Economic Management". www.mfem.gov.ck. Archived from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  3. ^ "Census 2021 Updates". Archived from the original on 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  4. ^ "VITAL STATISTICS AND POPULATION ESTIMATES MARCH QUARTER 2020" (PDF). MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-11-16. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  5. ^ "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  6. ^ a b "Australia-Oceania ::: COOK ISLANDS". CIA The World Factbook. 27 April 2023.
  7. ^ a b Crocombe, R. G. (1990). Voluntary Service and Development in the Cook Islands. University of the South Pacific. p. 8. ISBN 9789820200234.
  8. ^ "Te Reo Maori Act 2003". Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  9. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2020). "Pukapuka". Glottolog 4.2.1. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  10. ^ "2016 Cook Islands census" (PDF). mfem.gov.ck. 2016. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Demographic Yearbook, Population by age, sex and urban/rural residence: latest available year, 2005–2014" (PDF). UN Data. United Nations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-12-23. Retrieved 4 December 2015.