According to the latest 2018 New Zealand census, 447 residents of the country declared Portugal to be the place of their birth, and it is estimated that Portuguese migrants and their descendants number approximately 1,365,[2] up from 900 in 2006, and 1000 in 1996.
As well as having been recognised as an official community, the Portuguese in New Zealand hold several annual meetings and celebrations such as Portugal Day, and are organised through a friendship association.
[13] Another early settler was Francisco Rodrigues Figueira, also from Madeira, who owned a prison labour gum-digger's camp in West Auckland in the late 19th century.
Portuguese-born Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira was the only victim of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in the port of Auckland.
Today, the Portuguese are part of an even larger Portuguese-speaking community in New Zealand, that also includes Brazilians, East Timorese, Macanese and Cape Verdeans.