The population of Niue decreased from a peak of 5194 in 1966, to 2322 in 1991, 1788 in 2001 and an estimated 1496 residents in June 2010. There is substantial emigration to New Zealand because of the country’s lack of natural resources, its isolation and insufficient social and economic development, and because Niueans hold New Zealand citizenship. The 2001 New Zealand census listed 20 148 Niueans in the New Zealand population.
Population density is estimated at six persons per square kilometre, with 37% living in urban areas. Children under the age of 15 years make up 26% of the population, adults 65 years and older accounting for 12%. The crude birth rate is 20.1 per 1000 population and the crude death rate 7.8 per 1000 population.
At the Sixth World Health Assembly in May 1953, Niue was assigned to the Western Pacific Region as an area, ''without prejudice to any questions regarding sovereignty.'' It achieved internal self-government in October 1974 in free association with New Zealand. Niue joined WHO on 4 May 1994.
Niue was covered by the WHO Representative office in the South Pacific from 1956 to 1 October 1986, when the WHO Representative Office in Samoa was established to cover American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau.
WHO Country Office
Ioane Viliamu Building Beach Road Apia Western Samoa
P.O. Box 77 Apia, Western Samoa
(685) 24-976 (direct line)
08.00 - 12.00 13.00 - 17.00 (Monday to Friday)
- Western Pacific Country Health Information Profiles 2011 revision
Niue Population Estimate, 30 June 2010, Economic, Planning, Development, and Statistics
Pacific Island Populations - Estimates and projections of demographic indicators for selected years, Updated April 2010
|Population (in thousands) ( 2010 )||1.496|
|Population aged 5-14 years (%) ( 2010 )||16.71|
|Life expectancy at birth (years) ( 2004 )||71.6|
|Under-five mortality rate (per 1000 live births) ( 2006 )|| not available
|Total health expenditure as % of GDP ( 2009 )||16.94|
|General government health expenditure as % of total government expenditure ( 2009 )||15.81|
|Human development index ( 1998 )||0.77|
|Per capita GDP at current market prices (US$) ( 2006 )||8208.2|
|Population below national poverty line (%)|| not available
|Literacy rate among adults aged >= 15 years (%) ( 2003 )||100|
|Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) ( 2006 )|| not available
|Proportion of the population using improved drinking water source ( 2008 )||100|
|Population using improved sanitation facilities (%) ( 2008 )||100|