Demographics of the Cook Islands

This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Cook Islands, including 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 2016 and the next census will be carried out in December 2021.[1]

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
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%
Source: [2]

Vital statistics

Births and deaths[3]

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
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	17,794	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	17,434	242	87	155	20.5	7.4	13.1	2.5
2017	19,500	222	93	129	14.2	6.0	8.2
2018	18,600	239	123	116	15.0	7.7	7.3
2019	20,200	225	105	120	13.2	6.1	7.1

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[4]

• Population
  • 9,290
• Age structure (2017 est.)
  • 0–14 years: 21.12% (male 1,154/female 1,025)
  • 15–24 years: 16.63% (male 929/female 806)
  • 25–54 years: 38.09% (male 1,876/female 1,867)
  • 55–64 years: 11.99% (male 569/female 494)
  • 65 years and over: 12.16% (male 551/female 567)
• Population growth rate
  • -2.79%
• Birth rate
  • 14 births/1,000 population
• Death rate
  • 8.4 deaths/1,000 population
• Infant mortality rate
  • Total: 13 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 15.8 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 10.1 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life expectancy at birth
  • Total population: 76 years
  • Male: 73.2 years
  • Female: 79 years (2017 est.)
• Total fertility rate
  • 2.19 children born/woman
• Nationality
  • Cook Islander(s) (Noun)
  • Cook Islander (Adjective)
• Ethnic groups
  • Cook Island Maori (Polynesian) 81.3%
  • part Cook Island Maori 6.7%
  • Other 11.9%
• Religions
  • Protestant 62.8%
    • Cook Islands Christian Church 49.1%
    • Seventh-day Adventist 7.9%,
    • Assemblies of God 3.7%
    • Apostolic Church 2.1%),
  • Roman Catholic 17%
  • Mormon 4.4%,
  • Other 8%
    • This "Other" group includes smaller Christian denominations, and mostly non-indigenous adherents of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, as well as the irreligious.[5]
  • None 5.6%
  • No response 2.2%
• Languages
  • English (official) 86.4%
  • Cook Islands Maori (Rarotongan) (official) 76.2%
  • Other 8.3%

References

1. http://www.mfem.gov.ck/statistics/census-and-surveys/census
2. http://www.mfem.gov.ck/statistics/census-and-surveys/census/142-census-2016
3. "VITAL STATISTICS AND POPULATION ESTIMATES MARCH QUARTER 2020" (PDF). MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
4. "Australia-Oceania ::: COOK ISLANDS". CIA The World Factbook.
5. Crocombe, R. G. (1990). Voluntary Service and Development in the Cook Islands. University of the South Pacific. p. 8. ISBN 9789820200234.