This year's Census results show a quarter of the population was born overseas and one in eight people living in New Zealand are Asian.
Photo: RNZ
Results issued by Statistics New Zealand shows that over 65% of the Asian population live in the Auckland region.
Census general manager Sarah Minson said that spike is also reflected in the popularity of the languages spoken, with Hindi replacing French as the fourth most common language.
Ms Minson said Maori is still second behind English as the most common language in New Zealand, but the number of Te Reo speakers has fallen by over 4%.
Overall, the census shows New Zealand's population growth is slowing - up by just over 200,000 to 4.42 million since 2006 - but the numbers of those aged in their 50s and 60s are on the increase.
Home ownership likely to decline - broker
A mortgage adviser says New Zealand is no longer seen as a place where people can comfortably own their own home.
Statistics New Zealand figures show less than 65% of people now own their own home - a drop of about 2% on the previous census.
Bruce Patten says 20 ears ago, New Zealand was in the leading position for home ownership and now it make the top 10 in the world.
"It's not surprising at all, and I would expect the next time round the census will show that drop in home ownership increase significantly."
Mr Patten says the drop in home ownership continues to drive the increasing cost of rental accommodation.
