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Story: Pacific churches in New Zealand

Faith by denomination

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Move the mouse over the bars on the graph to compare levels of religious affiliation. Click on an ethnic group in the key to remove that group from the graph; click on that group again to restore it.

Religious affiliation was partly the legacy of 19th-century missionary work, when denominations focused their efforts on particular islands – for example, Methodists in Tonga and Protestants in Tuvalu. In 2013 almost 36% of Tongans were Methodists, whereas over 44% of Tuvaluans were Presbyterian, Congregational or Reformed.

Using this item

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Statistics New Zealand

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How to cite this page

Cluny Macpherson, Pacific churches in New Zealand – History of Pacific churches, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/26718/faith-by-denomination (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Cluny Macpherson, published 21 February 2011.